Atypical dyspnea presentation among adult population in Basrah, Iraq

Abstract

Background: the presentation of shortness of breath is very common, and the differential diagnosis is so versatile that required great attention and out of box thinking to reach the final diagnosis which help to alleviate patients’ complains and improve their quality of life.Objective: evaluation of another differential diagnosis for patients with multiple, atypical dyspnea presentation at cardiology unit in Alsadar Teaching Hospital, Basrah, Iraq.Materials and Method: Fifty-eight patients have atypical dyspnea presentation enrolled in this study for the period from July 2020 tell August 2022. Cardiac and pulmonary causes were excluded by cardiologist prior to otorhinolaryngological evaluation for upper airway causes of dyspnea.Results: 58 adult patients enrolled in this study. The age range was 19 – 68 years with mean of 41.64 ± 12.67 years. The majority of the studied patients were in the 3rd and 4th decade of life (55.2%). Most of those patients had nasal pathology causing moderate to severe upper airway obstruction (63.8%). The majority of those patients report great improvement in their quality of life after intervention either medically, surgically or combination of both (88%).Conclusion: atypical dyspnea presentation in adults is challenging due to different pathology and systems involved. Upper airway causes of this presentation can be solved with great improvement in the patients’ quality of life.