Shortness Of Breath

Question 1

Dyspnea

Answer 1

. Tightening in chest, feeling of suffocation
. Feeling of labored breathing
. Labored breathing out of proportion to patient’s activity level

Question 2

dyspnea assoc. symptoms

Answer 2

. Fever
. Weight loss
. Night sweats
. Cough

Question 3

Potential areas that elicit chest pain

Answer 3

. Parietal pleura (lung tissue doesn’t have pain fibers)
. Cardiac origin
. Chest wall origin
. GI

Question 4

Pulmonary potential causes of shortness of breath

Answer 4

. pneumonia 
. Pneumothorax
. Pulmonary embolus 
. Aspiration
. Bronchospasm 
. Upper airway obstruction
. ARDS

Question 5

Potential cardiac issues causing shortness of breath

Answer 5

. MI/Ischemia
. CHF
. Arrhythmia
. Tamponade

Question 6

Potential metabolic causes of shortness of breath

Answer 6

. Acidosis

. Sepsis

Question 7

Hematologic cause of shortness of breath

Answer 7

Anemia

Question 8

Psychiatric causes of shortness of breath

Answer 8

Anxiety

Question 9

Hypopnea

Answer 9

. Abnormally slow or shallow breathing
. Dec. airflow for at least 10s and 30% reduction in ventilation
. Results in dec. PO2
. Seen in sleep apnea

Question 10

Apnea

Answer 10

. Transient cessation of breathing
. Pause in breathing over 10s
. Causes include sleep apnea, narcotic/alcohol, CNS issues, infection, seizures, airway obstruction

Question 11

Hyperventilation causes

Answer 11

. Exercise
. High altitude 
. Sepsis
. Resp, acidosis
. Anemia
. Organic hyperventilation

Question 12

Tachypnea

Answer 12

. Rapid shallow breathing

. Causes include salicylate toxicity, restrictive lung disease, pleuritic Che’s pain, and elevated diaphragm

Question 13

Bradypnea

Answer 13

. Slow breathing

. Causes include drugs, uremia, and inc. ICP

Question 14

Conversational dyspnea

Answer 14

Visible and audible difficulty breathing worsening while speaking

Question 15

Exertional dyspnea

Answer 15

. Provoked by physical effort/exertion

Question 16

Orthopnea

Answer 16

. Shortness of breath that occurs when lying flat

. Measured by number of pillows used to sleep

Question 17

Barrel chest

Answer 17

. Chest expanded out, little groove between abs

Question 18

Pectus excavatum

Answer 18

. Chest caved in, large groove btw abs

Question 19

Pectus carinatum

Answer 19

. Anteriorly displaced sternum
. Depressed costal cartilages
. Chest sticks way out

Question 20

Hemoptysis

Answer 20

. Blood coughed up fro lower respiratory tract

. Quantify volume and assoc. symptoms