The shortness of breath came on suddenly when the patient was studying in his room. Initially, it was associated with wheezing but there was no associated chest pain.

He stated that for a week prior to the attack he had experienced a dry cough.

He was wheezy as a child, and was diagnosed with asthma in his early teens. He was given a brown and a blue inhaler, but he hasn’t used them for the past 2 – 3 weeks – he went on holiday with a group of friends and didn’t take them with him.

He is a non-smoker and drinks 25-30 units of alcohol a week.