Which term indicates that a patient is not responding to asthma treatment?

Status asthmaticus is a medical term used to describe a severe and potentially life-threatening condition where a patient with asthma is not responding to standard treatment methods, such as bronchodilators or corticosteroids. This term signifies that the asthma is in a critical state, requiring immediate and often aggressive medical intervention. It highlights a significant worsening of the patient's status, indicating that their usual management strategies are insufficient.

In contrast, chronic asthma refers to the long-term, ongoing nature of the disease but does not specifically indicate treatment failure. An asthma attack is more of a general term for an acute episode of worsened asthma symptoms, while acute exacerbation typically refers to a temporary increase in symptoms or a worsening of asthma but does not necessarily imply that the patient is not responding to treatment in the same way that status asthmaticus does. Thus, status asthmaticus specifically denotes a situation where the patient's condition has reached a critical level of non-responsiveness to treatment.