A clinical case discussing the differential diagnosis of shortness of breath in an elderly patient.
Highlights broad differentials for dyspnea in elderly patients; case reports leave generalizability and practice change open.
An 87-year-old independent and active woman with no known heart or pulmonary disease went to see her physician because she had shortness of breath.The two most common causes of shortness of breath in this age group are pulmonary disease and cardiac disease. In the pulmonary category, I would worry that she had pneumonitis or an interstitial process such as pulmonary fibrosis. In the cardiac category, I'd be concerned about left ventricular failure secondary either to coronary artery disease or to hypertensive heart disease. Dyspnea could also be a manifestation of valvular heart disease. Patients in this age . . .
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
George E. Thibault (1993) studied this question.