Kirov doctors spent 22 days saving a woman who was dying of asphyxiation.

      By air ambulance, a young woman suffering from debilitating shortness of breath was brought to the regional hospital. There it was diagnosed that the woman had a rare and potentially fatal condition — status asthmaticus, shared the head of the Department of Resuscitation and Intensive Care No. 3 of the Kirov Regional Clinical Hospital (KOKB), Vladimir Litvinov. According to the press service of the Ministry of Health of the Kirov Region, it can occur as a result of a prolonged asthma attack.

      As Vladimir Litvinov said, they had not had such patients even once in the past 30 years. "Imagine a person in respiratory distress before you, whose spasmed and constricted airways do not respond to bronchodilators and do not allow the oxygen-air mixture from the ventilator to pass through. To ensure even minimal gas exchange, all our years of experience and the use of the highest possible ventilation settings were required, which is possible only with modern equipment," the doctor recalls.

      For 22 days doctors fought for the woman's life. During that time they used every available measure and consulted with the chief freelance pulmonologist of the Kirov Region's Ministry of Health, Elena Gertye.

      As it later turned out, the patient had episodes over several years when she began to suffocate. She managed the symptoms with an inhaler, although she should have sought medical attention. She had not received treatment for bronchial asthma.

      "We conducted a full diagnostic workup, prescribed anti-inflammatory and bronchodilatory drugs, antibiotics and antifungal agents, as we detected a fungal lung disease that exacerbated the bronchospasm. The situation was complicated by the fact that bronchi filled with dense mucous plugs prevented the medications from penetrating deeply," said KOKB pulmonologist Ekaterina Babushkina.

      After the woman was taken off the ventilator, specialists from the early rehabilitation department took over. Head of the department Natalya Gubkina, recalling her first meeting with the patient, said that she lay silently, motionless. She had to be retrained to swallow food and assisted to move. By the time of discharge the woman was already walking with the aid of a walker. Psychologist Ekaterina Gorodilova visited her and helped the patient cope with what had happened.

      The hospital also administered light therapy to her to stimulate memory, cognitive function and emotions. "Everyone was so happy when the patient began to greet us with a smile and regained confidence in herself!" said physiotherapist Viktoria Yelkina.

      Chief physician of KOKB Vadim Ralnikov noted that it was precisely the cohesive and well-coordinated work of the team that helped to cope with such a severe situation, when the patient was on the brink of life and death every day.