Wheezy swallow: poorly responsive 'asthma'.

We report two children who presented with cough and wheeze, were initially misdiagnosed with asthma and were subsequently demonstrated to have achalasia as the underlying cause of their symptoms. These cases highlight the importance of considering diagnoses other than asthma when there is a suboptimal response to asthma medications, as well as the value of investigations including chest X-ray and pulmonary function tests in establishing the underlying cause.