Autoimmune vasculitis and aortic stenosis in aspirin- induced asthma (AIA).

Aspirin-induced asthma (AIA), a distinct clinical syndrome, affects about 10% of adult asthmatics. Attacks of asthma precipitated by aspirin are related to the inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase in the lungs of sensitive patients, and not to the body's reaction to the allergen. Immunologic mechanisms may, however, become involved in the course of the disease. Recently, signs of autoimmunity have been observed in some patients with AIA. A 46-year-old woman had been in good health until the age of 21, when she developed chronic watery rhinitis.