Der Internist
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The subjective perception of pulmonary dyspnea varies based on behavioral and physiological responses. Acute pulmonary dyspnea is the most common symptom of diseases of the airways and the lungs and the differential diagnosis includes harmless causes, such as lack of training as well as acute life-threatening diseases, such as thromboembolism, obstruction of the upper or lower airway, pneumonia, pulmonary hemorrhage and pneumothorax. Most cases of chronic pulmonary dyspnea result from asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary arterial hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis and pleural disorders. ⋯ Measurement of brain natriuretic peptide levels may help to exclude heart failure in COPD and D-dimer testing may help rule out pulmonary embolisms. Computed tomography of the chest is the most appropriate imaging procedure for diagnosing pulmonary embolism and interstitial lung disease. To diagnose pulmonary arterial hypertension echocardiography and right heart catheterization may be necessary.
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Dyspnea represents one of the most frequent and heterogeneous symptoms. The term dyspnea describes the subjective perception of an inadequate effort to breathe. In general, acute and chronic forms have to be differentiated. ⋯ The differential diagnosis needs a structured approach including anamnestic and medical technical methods, aiming an efficient differentiation of cardiac and pulmonary causes. As a high number of patients suffer from more than one significant disease, the differential diagnostic assessment needs to be focused on the assessment of the predominant cause of the dyspnea. For this purpose, exercise tests provide helpful algorithms to answer this question.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
[Effects of glycemic index on cardiovascular risk factors: The OmniCarb randomized clinical trial].
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Hyperkalemia is a common clinical problem. While several options are available to treat acute hyperkalemia, there are few options for long-term treatment. ⋯ Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate and patiromer are two new oral potassium binders awaiting approval. The efficacy of these novel potassium-lowering agents were tested in several phase 3 short-term studies published in late 2014.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
[Endovascular treatment for acute ischemic stroke : Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke in the Netherlands (MR CLEAN)].