Pulmonary Flashcards
What 3 things should you consider for wheezing besides asthma?
- Foreign Body Aspiration
- Swallowing Dysfunction
- Bronchiolitis
What is the mneumonic for wheezing besides asthma?
- Aspirated drinks
- Babies with kinks
- Swallowed thinks (things)
- Vascular rinks (rings)
Who are aspirated foreign bodies more common in?
Older children who are mobile (still consider this in an infant)
Who is foreign body aspiration seen most commonly in?
Infants and toddlers
What other groups besides infants and toddlers may you see foreign body aspiration in?
A child with developmental disability or any child with CNS depression
In what time frame do most foreign body aspirations manifest in?
24 hours
What is the classic triad for foreign body aspiration?
- Cough
- Wheeze
- Decreased breath sounds
What things do infants and toddlers typically aspirate?
Food (especially hot dogs and popcorn)
What things objects do older children typically aspirate?
Objects
What are the clues for foreign body aspiration (whether or not they mention asthma history, signs of croup, ect.)?
Unlabored breathing with nonproductive cough with an expiratory wheeze heard best on the right side. History of cough of sudden onset.
In what % of cases of foreign body aspiration is there no recollection of an actual aspiration?
Nearly 50%
What are things to look for on CXR with foreign body aspiration?
Radiopaque object usually at right main stem bronchus. Hyperexpansion of one hemithorax in both inspiratory and expiratory films.
With foreign body aspiration what are radiographs confirmed with?
Bronchoscopy (this is how FB is retrieved anyways)
1 year old with acute onset of coughing and right sided expiratory wheeze… best test to confirm suspicions?
Airway fluoroscopy (in a 1 year old, most likely FB is food which is radiolucent and you can’t get a 1 year old to do inspiratory/expiratory films)
What should be suspected in an infant with recurrent wheezing that increases with feeding and neck flexion?
Vascular rings, bronchogenic cysts, tracheal stenosis, double aortic arch (can cause external tracheal or esophageal compression)
What are symptoms of things that cause vascular compression?
Recurrent wheezing (increases with feeding and neck flexion), stridor, dyspnea during feeding
What is the diagnosis of things causing vascular compression (like a vascular ring) best confirmed by?
Barium swallow study
Infant with recurrent coughing associated with wheezing… underlying problem?
Swallowing dysfunction
How do you confirm diagnosis of swallowing dysfunction?
Barium swallow study with video fluoroscopy
What are some treatment options for kids with swallowing dysfunction?
- Thickened feedings
- Feeding therapy
- G-tube
What is present when a patient is incapable of compensating for the effects of respiratory compromise?
Respiratory failure
What is more important in evaluation of respiratory failure than any lab value?
Respiratory effort
Name 3 signs of respiratory distress?
- Tachypnea
- Retractions
- Pulsus paradoxus
Name late signs of respiratory distress which indicate respiratory failure and need for intubation.
- Hypoxemia
- Grunting
- Agitation
- Decreased mentation
- Poor tone
- Cyanosis
- Signs of fatigue
If you are presented with a patient with an underlying neurological disorder who is in respiratory distress, what is the likely correct choice regarding management?
Elective intubation
Name some congenital malformations of the lower airway.
- Pulmonary sequestrations
- Bronchogenic cysts
- Congenital adenomatoid malformations
- Congenital lobar emphysema
How do congenital malformations of the lower airway present?
Recurrent respiratory symptoms (or just incidental findings on CXR)
What is typical treatment for congenital malformations of the lower airway?
Surgical removal
If you have a patient with clubbing of the fingers or toes, which 4 things should you consider?
- Cyanotic heart disease
- Chronic lung disease
- Cirrhosis of the liver
- Familial trait (with absence of other disorders)
What is the official term for digital clubbing?
Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy
What is the first thing to do in deciding whether to intubate?
Assess respiratory effort
The difference in blood pressure during inspiration and expiration should not be greater than…?
10mmHg
What is pulsus paradoxus?
Difference in blood pressure during inspiration and expiration that is greater than 20mmHg
What does pulsus paradoxus suggest?
Pulmonary or cardiac problems
True or False: In assessing a child in respiratory distress, obtaining an ABG and lab work is the first thing to do
FALSE… assess airway (A of ABCs)
What is the best way to assess and confirm respiratory distress?
Watch for signs of anxiety (sweating and/or tachycardia)… respiratory rate is incorrect because a “normal” respiratory rate could be the transition from tachypnea to apnea
What results in chronic hypoxemia?
Any persistent condition that compromises the ability to oxygenate blood
What do the kidneys do when they see hypoxemia?
Produce erythropoietin (red cells get produced, HCT goes up)
A HCT of greater than 65 can cause what?
Headaches, joint pain, clots (pulmonary emboli), hemoptysis
A kid with a history of headache, joint pain, clots, or hemoptysis could point to what?
Chronic hypoxemia (kidneys making EPO, Hct going up)
What happens to platelets in chronic hypoxia?
Decrease (increased risk of bleeding)
The respiratory drive of patients with chronic lung disease is often driven by what?
Hypoxemia (rather than acidosis and hypercapnia)
True or False: Correction of hypoxia (by administering O2) in a patient suffering from chronic lung disease can put a patient at risk for respiratory arrest
TRUE (respiratory drive in chronic lung disease is often driven by hypoxemia)
What should your goals be for oxygen administration in a patient with chronic hypoxemia?
Lowest concentration needed to maintain an O2 saturation of 90% (CO2 measurements via ABG should be followed as well)
What are two things to make sure of regarding a pulse oximeter for the real world?
- Make sure pulse is correlating
2. Ensure no mechanical or artifactual problems
Cyanosis with depressed sensorium
Hypoxia
Flushing and agitation and headaches
Hypercarbia (elevated CO2 leading to cerebral vasodilation)
What is elevated with carbon monoxide poisoning?
Carboxyhemoglobin
In carbon monoxide poisoning, what are the pulse oximetry readings?
High… overestimate the level of oxyhemoglobin and oxygenation
True or False: Anytime there are shock-like conditions resulting in impaired peripheral perfusion, the O2 values are unreliable
TRUE (shock will be things like heart failure, hypovolemia, septic shock)
Best measure of pulmonary function or hypoxemia?
ABG (don’t pick capillary blood gas… has to be arterial for O2 component to be valid)
Central blueish discoloration of skin due to poorly oxygenated blood.
Cyanosis
How do you distinguish between pulmonary and cardiac cyanosis?
Hyperoxia test
What happens in the hyperoxia test if the cause of cyanosis is pulmonary (v. cardiac)?
After 10 min of 100% inspired O2, PaO2 would increase in most pulmonary diseases, but no in cardiac diseases
What pulmonary disease will you not see an increase in PaO2 after 10 minutes of 100% O2?
PPHN
Name 7 extrapulmonary causes of cyanosis.
- Heart disease with right to left shunting
- Shock
- Methemoglobinemia
- CNS depression
- Cold exposure
- Polycythemia
- Breath holding spells
6 month old infant, hands and feet intermittently blue since birth, when hands and feet not blue, they are mottled… what is the cause?
Episodic acrocyanosis (no workup, just reassurance)
If this was true cyanosis needing workup (methemoglobinemia, EKG, O2 sat, ect.) you would see central blueness of lips or face
What is a condition in which the iron in the hemoglobin molecule is defective, making it unable to effectively carry O2 to the tissues?
Methemoglobinemia
Hgb is not transporting O2
How do you get methemoglobinemia?
It can be congenital or acquired
Which condition causes cyanosis in the absence of cyanotic heart disease?
Methemoglobinemia
What is treatment for methemoglobinemia?
- Eliminating the triggering agent
2. IV methylene blue
What are the 3 things you initially do to work up a chronic cough?
- Sweat chloride testing
- TB skin testing
- CXR
If you have a kid with a chronic cough and normal sweat chloride, TB testing, and CXR, what’s next?
Spirometry
What does spirometry help rule out with chronic cough?
Asthma
What age can you start doing spirometry?
When they can cooperate (usually around 6)
What is the 100 day cough?
Pertussis
What is a loud, brassy barking and/or honking cough that can be produced on command?
Psychogenic cough
What happens with a psychogenic cough at night?
Disappears during sleep
Harsh, dry chronic cough with fever, weight loss, night sweats
TB and fungal infections (even chest malignancies)
What are some conditions that impair the effectiveness of coughing?
- Cerebral Palsy
- Muscle Weakness
- Vocal cord dysfunction
- CNS disease
- Thoracic deformities
- Pain
(Takes TNT to clear lungs when coughing isn’t effective… Thoraco Neuro (CP/CNS disease) Tied up with weakness and pain)
Cough suppressants?
NO… no benefit over a placebo in children
Name signs and symptoms consistent with CF
- Failure to thrive
- Steatorrhea
- Low serum albumin
- Low sodium
- Pseudomonas infections
What is the abnormal level for a CF sweat test?
60mEq or greater is diagnostic
Best way to confirm suspected CF diagnosis?
Sweat test… False negatives are rare and usually due to inadequate sample or technique (don’t be tempted to pick DNA analysis or genetic testing)
How is CF inherited?
AR (carriers show no signs)
What are the odds of a healthy sibling of someone with CF being a carrier?
2/3
If a sibling of someone with CF marries someone from the general population, what are the odds of them having a kid with CF?
(2/3) [chance of a sibling carrier] * (1/25) [chance of picking a carrier out of the general Caucasian population] * (1/4) [change of child being double recessive] = 1 in 150
What is the carrier rate for CF in the general Caucasian population?
1 in 25
If 2 carriers of CF are married, what is the risk of having a child with CF?
1/4 (double recessive trait)
Hypoproteinemia, anemia, steatorrhea, recurrent pulmonary symptoms in an infant?
CF
Are respiratory or GI symptoms more prevalent in infants with CF?
GI symptoms are more prevalent
What is the metabolic derangement seen in infants with CF?
Hypochloremic alkalosis
Which vitamin deficiency is a major problem with CF?
Vitamin E deficiency
When should vitamin E supplementation be started in patients with CF?
Before age 5
What can vitamin K malabsorption lead to (specific to CF kiddos)?
Prolonged prothrombin time
Name GI manifestations of CF in the neonatal period
- Meconium ileus
- Meconium peritonitis
- Unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia