Dyspnoea upon hospital admission: listen to the bird of ill omen!

Dyspnoea, namely a patient's complaint of difficult, disturbing or distressing breathing, is a symptom that prompts physicians to undertake diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in order to identify and correct causative pathophysiological abnormalities. Dyspnoea can become self-perpetuating (a syndrome) when it persists despite mechanistic treatments. It then justifies symptomatic management to alleviate suffering [1, 2]. Above all, dyspnoea is an experience that changes patients’ lives and requires holistic approaches [3]. In this issue of the European Respiratory Journal, Stevens et al. [4], from a group that has achieved outstanding progress in the understanding of dyspnoea [5], spotlight yet another aspect of dyspnoea. They highlight its value as a very generic warning sign of impending doom: in unselected patients admitted to hospital, the "mere fact" of reporting dyspnoea is associated with an increased risk of hospital mortality. This risk increases with increasing intensity of dyspnoea.
Source: European Respiratory Journal - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Editorials Source Type: research