Life-threatening asthma.

This article focuses on various issues related to acute, life-threatening episodes of asthma. The areas discussed include epidemiology, clinical assessment, pharmacologic treatment with bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory agents, endotracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, adjunctive and nonconventional therapy used in the management of the mechanically ventilated asthmatic, and the prognosis of patients who require mechanical ventilation, including both short-term morbidity and long-term outlook.