Respiratory failure in asthma during the third trimester: report of two cases.

We are reporting the cases of two pregnant women with life-threatening asthma, who required mechanical ventilation of the lungs and later were delivered of healthy infants. Maintenance of an adequate PaO2 is essential in such cases. To accepted asthma therapy, we added a warm metaproterenol-saline solution irrigation and suction, which functions like bronchoalveolar lavage to facilitate recovery.