Ability of asthmatics with and without respiratory arrest to detect added resistive loads.

Asthmatics who sometimes experience respiratory arrest during an exacerbation are a particular concern. To date no adequate explanation exists for this phenomenon. Impaired perception of resistive loads is considered a factor in the development of hypercapnic respiratory failure, especially during exacerbation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We analyzed the perception of resistive loads in 10 asthmatics who had suffered two or more respiratory arrests during an acute exacerbation. A group of eight asthmatics (same mean age and basal bronchial obstruction) who had never developed respiratory arrest or acidosis during their exacerbations was also studied. No statistically significant differences were found between the two groups in the perception of resistive loads. This negative result seems to exclude a deficiency in the ability to detect resistive loads as a cause of respiratory arrest in asthmatic patients.