Dyspnea Case Studies

D isorder: Dyspnea Dyspnea is a common presentation among geriatric patients in respirator emergencies in the acute setting (Tyler & Stevenson, 2016). Dyspnea occurs when the patient has difficulty breathing. It is associated with cardiopulmonary abnormalities such as congestive heart failure (CHF), myocardial ischemia (MI), bronchospasm and pulmonary embolus (PE) infection (Hüfner & Dodt, 2015). The condition must be assessed and evaluated immediately. Providers must review the patient’s medical history for any underlying pulmonary or cardiovascular disease that may be the root cause of dyspnea.
Clinical characteristics: Dyspnea with activity is associated with MI, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Poor oxygenation and shortness of breath may also occur with anemia (Hofmann, Aufenanger, & Hoffmann, 2016).
Serial cardiac enzymes are needed to determine is an MI is occurring (Hofmann et al., 2016).
ABGs will reveal the level of respiratory compromise (Hofmann et al., 2016).
Blood and sputum cultures will help determine the presence of infection and pneumonia, respectively.
Serum chemistry will indicate renal failure. Difficulty breathing may be due to compensatory mechanisms for metabolic acidosis (Hofmann et al., 2016).
Chest X-Ray image may show pulmonary edema, pneumothorax, effusion, pneumonia.
EKG will indicate cardiovascular etiology of the dyspnea (Hofmann et al., 2016).
Pulmonary function tests will determine if the patient has chronic lung disease (Hofmann et al., 2016).
V/Q scan and Spiral CT with contrast will show if the patient has a PE (Hofmann et al., 2016).
Pulmonary angiogram is needed to diagnose definitively if the patient has a PE (Hofmann et al., 2016).
Angiogram will help determine the ejection fraction of the patient and reveal if CHF is contributing to the shortness of breath (Hofmann et al., 2016).
Echocardiogram will show valve disorder and heart failure that may cause