Acute asthma management in children: factors identifying patients at risk for intensive care unit treatment.

The hospitalization and mortality rates incurred from childhood asthma continue to rise despite recent progress into the pathophysiology and treatment of reactive airway disease. We believe that there are specific factors that identify children at risk for death from asthma. The objective of the study was to determine those risk factors that identify children at increased risk for nonfatal, but life-threatening asthma exacerbations resulting in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission. Patients aged 10 months-16 years admitted to Brenner Children's Hospital for status asthmaticus between April 1991 and December 1992 were evaluated with regard to the prevalence of eight different factors using two categories for asthma: (1) life-threatening asthma requiring PICU admission and (2) non-life-threatening asthma requiring routine hospitalization. Risk factors associated with an increased prevalence of non-fatal, but life-threatening asthma requiring PICU sensitivity state. The classification employed here seemed to provide some merits in delineating the features of adulthood asthma.