Dyspnea Difficulty breathing

Dyspnea, also known as difficulty of breathing or shortness of breath, is a subjective feeling of respiratory discomfort. It is a common symptom and can be described as constriction and tightness in the chest.

It is not a disease, but a symptom, the presence of which indicates that something is not right.

Dyspnea can be acute, for example, with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, congestive heart failure, pneumothorax and pulmonary embolism, or chronic, for example with severe COPD, even in the stable phase, emphysema and interstitial lung diseases.

The etiology of dyspnea covers a wide range of diseases, with pulmonary, cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases being the most common. They range from mild, self-limiting situations to life-threatening conditions.

The most common respiratory causes include:

- Asthma

- Pneumonia

- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

- Pulmonary emphysema

- Interstitial lung diseases

- Bronchiectasis

- Physical deconditioning

The degree of dyspnea may be assessed using the modified Medical Research Council Scale (mMRC) and its severity can be determined by assessing the level of activity needed to cause dyspnea (eg. dyspnea at rest is more severe than dyspnea only when climbing stairs).

The assessment and treatment of dyspnea depend on the clinical picture, the physical examination and the results of the etiological investigation.