Acute progressive dyspnea in a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Year 2020, Volume: 10 Issue: 3, 272 - 274, 29.09.2020

Uğur Gönlügür , Tanseli Gönlügür

Abstract

The cause of acute
dyspnea in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is challenging. A 69-year old
man complained of dyspnea, and cough. He had a diagnosis of chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease for 6 years. Oxygen therapy started for respiratory failure.
At the 6^th day of hospitalization, dyspnea progressively increased.
Chest x-ray showed a right-sided radiolucency. The preliminary diagnosis was
spontaneous pneumothorax but chest CT-scan demonstrated a space-occupying
lesion in left main bronchus. The latter diagnosis was mucoid impaction but
bronchoscopy revealed a malignant lesion. In conclusions, lung cancer can be a
rare cause of acute dyspnea.

Keywords

Dyspnea , Respiratory Insufficiency , Pulmonary Disease

References

• 1 Prosen G, Klemen P, Štrnad M, Grmec S. Combination of lung ultrasound (a comet-tail sign) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in differentiating acute heart failure from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma as cause of acute dyspnea in prehospital emergency setting. Crit Care. 2011;15(2):R114. 2 Moua T, Wood K. COPD and PE: a clinical dilemma. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2008;3(2):277-84. 3 Limthongkul S, Wongthim S, Udompanich V, Charoenlap P, Nuchprayoon C. Spontaneous pneumothorax in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Med Assoc Thai. 1992;75(4):204-12.4 Korsten P, Blaschke S. A 76-Year-Old Man with COPD and Acute Dyspnea. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2016;113(48):824. 5 Spindelboeck W1, Moser A. Spontaneous tension pneumothorax and CO₂ narcosis in a near fatal episode of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation. Am J Emerg Med. 2012; 30(8): 1664.e3-4.