Recognising the risk of aspirin-sensitive respiratory disease in a patient with asthma who has previously tolerated aspirin

Asthma is a common chronic condition composed of numerous different phenotypes. One clinically relevant phenotype is that of aspirin-sensitive respiratory disease (ASRD) which is more frequently seen in patients with difficult asthma. Reliance on a history of previous reaction to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in order to diagnose ASRD may give false reassurance. We describe the case of a 58-year old man with late onset asthma who was suspected to have ASRD on the basis of associated clinical features despite having taken aspirin safely in the past. The diagnosis of ASRD was subsequently confirmed by an inadvertent aspirin challenge which led to a serious adverse asthma outcome

Institute of Physics- Sri Lanka Phase space studies of complex Henon Heiles potentials

PT symmetric 2-D Henon-Heiles Potentials are studied semiclassically. We generalize the definition of Poincare ’ surface of sections to identify both regular and chaotic motion in the complex phase space. Definition of Lyapunov exponents is extended for complex trajectories. Both regular and chaotic trajectories are identified for the complex PT symmetric potentials using the new definition of Lyapunov exponents. A new quantization condition is introduced and its applicability to complex phase space is discussed

Can the multidisciplinary input of an asthma nurse specialist and respiratory physician improve the discharge management of acute asthma admissions?

Suboptimal discharge management of asthmatic patients increases risk of early re-hospitalisation,1,2 creating potentially avoidable burden for patients and medical services. British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines propose optimal management standards.3 A 2007 audit in our hospital against those guidelines found poor discharge related asthma management. Consequently, in January 2008 an asthma nurse specialist (ANS) was introduced in parallel with respiratory physician (RP)-led management of acute respiratory admissions

Can the multidisciplinary input of an asthma nurse specialist and respiratory physician improve the discharge management of acute asthma admissions?

Suboptimal discharge management of asthmatic patients increases risk of early re-hospitalisation,1,2 creating potentially avoidable burden for patients and medical services. British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines propose optimal management standards.3 A 2007 audit in our hospital against those guidelines found poor discharge related asthma management. Consequently, in January 2008 an asthma nurse specialist (ANS) was introduced in parallel with respiratory physician (RP)-led management of acute respiratory admissions