status asthmaticus/protease

Status asthmaticus (SA) is a sudden respiratory failure characterized by an acute bronchospasm with a severe inflammation, requiring in some cases mechanical ventilation (MV). Initial postmortem studies emphasized the presence of eosinophils in the bronchial wall and of mucus plugs filling the

The rare occurrence of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency in black Americans has led to the suggestion that routine screening of such subjects in needless. Our report of a black teen-ager with deficiency of this protease inhibitor in association with status asthmaticus suggests that at least relatively