History A 22-year-old man has been admitted to hospital with severe pain in his legs. He is known to have sickle cell disease and says that his pain is typical of his sickle crises. He was initially given opiate analgesia and intravenous fluids, and after 24 hours his pain has largely settled. He now complains of shortness of breath. Examination This young man is visibly dyspnoeic and has coarse crackles at both lung bases.
His SaO2 is now 87 percent on room air. How would you interpret the blood gas results? What is the probable diagnosis? *This case is from Docplexus editorial team for educative purpose only. Source: 100 cases in Acute medicine
