Extract
Dyspnoea is a multifactorial symptom, defined by the American Thoracic Society as “a subjective experience of breathing discomfort that consists of qualitatively distinct sensations that vary in intensity” [1]. Dyspnoea is caused by a wide range of conditions, ranging from asthma to pulmonary embolism, and including such nonrespiratory factors such as diabetic ketoacidosis. A patient with asthma who is aware of an increase in the muscular work of breathing during an attack, another patient with a pneumothorax experiencing increased efferent nerve stimulation from pulmonary stretch receptors and a third patient with type 1 respiratory failure would all describe themselves as “breathless”, but for very different physiological reasons. Identifying the exact source of the patient’s symptoms can be a lengthy process.
Abstract
Methods that can be used to investigate dyspnoea in a newly referred patient http://ow.ly/EsQW307U9hd
Footnotes
Conflict of interest None declared.
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