Pulmonary Embolism Mimicking Acute Severe Asthma.

When a patient presents with wheezing, pulmonary embolism is not usually considered as a possible cause. However bronchoconstriction can be caused by the embolism which produces wheezing that may be so obvious to make a diagnosis of bronchial asthma. Here we present a case of sub-massive pulmonary embolism presenting predominantly with wheezing without any previous history of cardio pulmonary diseases. The patient was treated for acute severe asthma in the beginning later suspected to have pulmonary embolism because of poor response to therapy and was confirmed by appropriate investigations. The present case thus emphasizes that pulmonary embolism can mimic acute severe asthma. © Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2011.