Which ASA class describes a patient with severe systemic disease that limits activity but is not incapacitating, such as advanced COPD?

• A. ASA II
• B. ASA III
• C. ASA IV
• D. ASA V

Answer: (B)

Assessing anesthesia risk uses the ASA physical status classification, which ranges from mild to life-threatening systemic disease to guide perioperative planning. The description of a severe systemic disease that limits activity but is not incapacitating fits ASA III. That means the patient has significant systemic illness affecting function but is not in immediate life-threatening failure. This differs from ASA II, which covers mild systemic disease with no substantial functional limitation, and from ASA IV, where the systemic disease is a constant threat to life (and often involves ongoing instability). ASA V describes a moribund patient not expected to survive without the operation. So, the scenario matches ASA III.