Acute respiratory distress

Acute respiratory distress is a common cause of emergency admission to hospital. Clinicians may face difficulties in terms of diagnosis (etiology), especially in older subjects, often presenting with multiple medical conditions. The Brain Natriuretic Peptid (BNP) assay is an interesting new diagnost...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inLa revue du praticien Vol. 56; no. 7; p. 735
Main Authors Delluc, Aurélien, L'Her, Erwan
Format Magazine Article
LanguageFrench
Published France 15.04.2006
Subjects
Acute Disease
Adult
Biomarkers - analysis
Diagnosis, Differential
Electrocardiography
Emergency Service, Hospital
Humans
Oxygen Inhalation Therapy
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult - diagnosis
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult - etiology
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult - therapy
Online AccessGet more information

Cover

More Information
Summary:Acute respiratory distress is a common cause of emergency admission to hospital. Clinicians may face difficulties in terms of diagnosis (etiology), especially in older subjects, often presenting with multiple medical conditions. The Brain Natriuretic Peptid (BNP) assay is an interesting new diagnostic tool in this context, since it differentiates pulmonary dyspnea from pulmonary edema in these patients. However, this laboratory examination should be used with discretion and analyzed according to the clinical setting to avoid possible false positive results. Symptomatic treatment of respiratory distress (oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support) is essential. Except from some clearly identified medical conditions (for instance cardiogenic pulmonary edema in hypertensive subjects, acute asthma attacks or tension pneumothorax), the effect of a specific treatment is often limited, at least in terms of immediate outcome.
ISSN:0035-2640