Article Text
Abstract
Acute airway obstruction in pregnancy remains a challenge to manage. Failure of appropriate and timely airway management may lead to maternal morbidity and mortality such as aspiration pneumonitis or worst hypoxaemic cardiopulmonary arrest.1 As pregnancy may exacerbate asthma attacks, parturient presenting with wheezing or shortness of breath will commonly be treated as suffering from an asthmatic attack.2 However, it is important to note other possible differential diagnoses. Thyroid disease is relatively common in women of childbearing age. The thyroid gland undergoes several changes during pregnancy, which may lead to altered function as well as gland enlargement and cause upper airway obstruction and symptoms similar to a bronchial asthma attack.3 4 With that in mind, we report a case of a parturient with long-standing goitre in her second trimester who presented to our institution with acute respiratory symptoms and cardiopulmonary arrest.
- ear, nose and throat
- thyroid disease
- pregnancy
- asthma
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Footnotes
Contributors GHL and WRWM: contributed in the conception and idea of writing the case report. GHL: performed research and took the lead in writing the manuscript. WRWM, RM and MA: revised the article for important intellectual content and provided critical feedback. WRWM and GHL: revised it for final approval of the version to be published. All authors approved the final version.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Patient consent for publication Obtained.