RESPIRATORY CONDITIONS

Question 1

What is ARDS?

Answer 1

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Occurs when lung swelling causes fluid to build up in the tiny elastic air sacs in the lungs. The fluid leaking into the alveoli keeps the lungs from filling with enough air.

Symptoms include severe shortness of breath, laboured and rapid breathing, cough, chest discomfort, tachycardia, confusion, and extreme tiredness.

Causes include sepsis, severe pneumonia, COVID, and breathing in harmful substances.

Question 2

What is pulmonary oedema/effusion and what are the signs and symptoms?

Answer 2

Too much fluid in the lungs. Fluid collects in many air sacs in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

Symptoms include dyspnoea (worse when lying down), feeling of drowning or suffocating, cough with frothy sputum, tachycardia or palpitations, fatigue, and wheezing.

Causes include cardiogenic (coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertension) and non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (ARDS, PE, drug overdose, toxins).

Question 3

What is a pulmonary embolism, how does this present on an ECG, what are the signs and symptoms?

Answer 3

Blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in the lung.

Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, cough, tachycardia or irregular heart rate, sweating, fever, leg pain, and cyanosis.

Causes include heart disease, cancer, surgery, COVID-19, long trips, bed rest, smoking, and disorders that affect clotting.

Question 4

What are the main causes of stridor?

Answer 4

Supraglottitis or acute epiglottis
Severe tonsillitis
Abscess
Foreign body obstruction
Malignancy
Burns
Facial trauma
Allergy.

Question 5

What is the initial management for a patient who is experiencing difficulty breathing?

Answer 5

Sit the patient upright, administer 15L oxygen via a non-rebreather mask to keep oxygen saturations above 94%, establish IV access, monitor observations, and assist ventilations if required.

Question 6

Which conditions will have CO2 retention as the primary cause of respiratory failure?

Answer 6

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Question 7

What is hyperventilation syndrome?

Answer 7

A condition characterized by over-breathing, often triggered by stress, anxiety, or other emotional states. Decrease in Carbon Dioxide Levels in the Blood, causing Symptoms such as Dizziness, Tingling and Chest Pain.

Question 8

What are the symptoms of hyperventilation syndrome?

Answer 8

Shortness of breath, tingling, chest pain, muscle cramps, headache, and fatigue.

Question 9

What are the causes of hyperventilation syndrome?

Answer 9

Anxiety, medical conditions, and medications.

Question 10

How does a Pulmonary Embolism Present on an ECG?

Answer 10

Sinus Tachycardia
Complete or Incomplete RBBB
Right Axis Deviation
Dominant R Wave in V1
Atrial Tachyarrhythmias - AF, Atrial Tachycardia, Atrial Flutter