| الوصف: |
Acute breathlessness or dyspnoea is the new onset of an unpleasant awareness of breathing, at rest or at a level of exercise, which did not previously cause symptoms. It is often associated with other symptoms—including wheeze, cough, chest pain, and palpitation—which, together with the patient’s comorbidities, help shape the differential diagnosis. Five disorders—decompensated heart failure, exacerbations of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia, and pulmonary embolism—account for 80% of diagnoses. In older patients, acute breathlessness often results from multiple interrelated pathologies (e.g. pneumonia on a background of COPD, triggering acute atrial fibrillation). This chapter describes the clinical approach to the patient presenting with acute breathlessness. |
