Nomograms to follow recovery rate in status asthmaticus in a veteran population.

Data from 12 Department of Veterans Affairs patients hospitalized for status asthmaticus were analyzed to determine the rate and degree of response to therapy. The time to achieve recovery was directly related to the level of baseline obstruction at the time of hospital admission. The recovery rate was constant and could be described by a single second-degree polynomial regression equation. Nomograms were constructed showing this rate of improvement of pulmonary function over time at four levels of baseline pulmonary obstruction.