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Is It Asthma? Recognizing Asthma Mimics

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Difficult To Treat Asthma

Part of the book series: Respiratory Medicine ((RM))

Abstract

Asthma is a common disease but many other conditions, often referred to as asthma mimics, can produce similar symptoms, often resulting in an incorrect asthma diagnosis. Misdiagnosis becomes more likely if objective testing is omitted when a diagnosis of asthma is made. In addition to other pulmonary and cardiac conditions, vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is a common asthma mimic that can be challenging to distinguish from asthma and should be considered in any asthma differential. Many asthma mimics can also co-exist with asthma and, if not recognized, make it difficult to control. In addition to objective testing, a thorough consideration of these conditions should be undertaken both at the time of initial asthma diagnosis and again in any asthma patient whose disease is unresponsive to therapy or difficult to control.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Marc C. Gauthier & Merritt L. Fajt

Authors
  1. Marc C. Gauthier
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  2. Merritt L. Fajt
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Merritt L. Fajt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mary Parkes Center for Asthma, Allergy & Pulmonary Care, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, NY, USA

    Sandhya Khurana

  2. Asthma Clinical & Research Programs Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA

    Fernando Holguin

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Gauthier, M.C., Fajt, M.L. (2020). Is It Asthma? Recognizing Asthma Mimics. In: Khurana, S., Holguin, F. (eds) Difficult To Treat Asthma. Respiratory Medicine. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20812-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20812-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20811-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20812-7

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