Handling the Whole Patient: A Case of Asthma Exacerbation

Feedback:

• Respiratory system (asthma exacerbation, pneumonia, PE)
• Cardiovascular system (acute coronary syndrome, acute cardiogenic pulmonary oedema, arrhythmias)
• Anaemia and haemoglobin pathology (carbon monoxide)
• Metabolic acidosis (with respiratory compensation for example diabetic ketoacidosis)
• Sepsis (may be related to some of the above, including respiratory tract infections)
• Anxiety and other psychiatric conditions

Shortness of breath has a huge differential, in these kind of questions it helps to have a structure to answer the question

In this example we have broken it down into a system-based approach