A case study of comorbidities: vocal cord dysfunction, asthma, and panic disorder.

The purpose of this case study was to describe the nature of the symptom episodes experienced by a 24-year-old woman diagnosed with VCD, asthma, and panic disorder. A multiple card sort procedure was used to identify the type, order of presentation, and severity of symptoms experienced by the participant during her typical symptom episodes. Seven types of symptom episodes were investigated including VCD, asthma, and panic episodes; and co-occurring or combined episodes of VCD and asthma; VCD and panic; asthma and panic; and VCD, asthma, and panic. The variability and complexity of the participant's symptom episodes, which are described, led to the development of a new VCD/asthma/panic comorbidities symptom classification system.