Week 14 - Breathlessness

Question 1

common causes of breathlessness

Answer 1

asthma
copd
heart failure
anaemia
bronchiectasis
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Question 2

fractional exhaled nitric oxide

Answer 2

NO produced by respiratory epithelium in response to inflammation - acts as signalling molecule. inflammation of resp epithelium caused by asthma etc
measurement in exhaled breath

Question 3

asthma treament

Answer 3

smoking cessation
allergen avoidance
weight loss
reliever - beta-2-agonist
preventer - inhaled corticosteroid

Question 4

what is heart failure due to

Answer 4

impaired ability to fill with or eject blood

Question 5

atrial natriuretic peptide

Answer 5

released from atria in response to stretch - occurs with fluid overload
wide range of effects - natriuresis (sodium loss through kidney), diuresis, lower blood pressue
left ventricle not ejecting enough blood, increases pressure and stretch in left atrium - brain-type NP secreted

Question 6

natriuretic peptide

Answer 6

brain-type NP (BNP) produced in atria, used as biomarker of heart failure
if elevated diagnosis confirmed by echocardiography

Question 7

echocardiography - ejection fraction

Answer 7

compares amount of blood in left ventricle before and after each contraction

Question 8

what is finger clubbing

Answer 8

increase in distal finger size
loss of nail bed angle
increased nail curvature

Question 9

what is cyanosis

Answer 9

bluish discolouration of skin or mucous membranes
increase in concentration of deoxyhaemoglobin
harder to see in darker skin tones
measured oxygen saturation is much more reliable