Dysfunctional breathing: what do we know?

Dysfunctional breathing (DB) is a respiratory condition characterized by irregular breathing patterns that occur either in the absence of concurrent diseases or secondary to cardiopulmonary diseases. Although the primary symptom is often dyspnea or "air hunger", DB is also associated with nonrespiratory symptoms such as dizziness and palpitations. DB has been identified across all ages. Its prevalence among adults in primary care in the United Kingdom is approximately 9.5%. In addition, among individuals with asthma, a positive diagnosis of DB is found in a third of women and a fifth of men. Although DB has been investigated for decades, it remains poorly understood because of a paucity of high-quality clinical trials and validated outcome measures specific to this population. Accordingly, DB is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, given the similarity of its associated symptoms (dyspnea, tachycardia, and dizziness) to those of other common cardiopulmonary diseases such as COPD and asthma. The high rates of misdiagnosis of DB suggest that health care professionals do not fully understand this condition and may therefore fail to provide patients with an appropriate treatment. Given the multifarious, psychophysiological nature of DB, a holistic, multidimensional assessment would seem the most appropriate way to enhance understanding and diagnostic accuracy. The present narrative review was developed as a means of summarizing the available evidence about DB, as well as improving understanding of the condition by researchers and practitioners.

Dysfunctional breathing: what do we know? / Disfunção respiratória: o que sabemos?

ABSTRACT Dysfunctional breathing (DB) is a respiratory condition characterized by irregular breathing patterns that occur either in the absence of concurrent diseases or secondary to cardiopulmonary diseases. Although the primary symptom is often dyspnea or "air hunger", DB is also associated with nonrespiratory symptoms such as dizziness and palpitations. DB has been identified across all ages. Its prevalence among adults in primary care in the United Kingdom is approximately 9.5%. In addition, among individuals with asthma, a positive diagnosis of DB is found in a third of women and a fifth of men. Although DB has been investigated for decades, it remains poorly understood because of a paucity of high-quality clinical trials and validated outcome measures specific to this population. Accordingly, DB is often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, given the similarity of its associated symptoms (dyspnea, tachycardia, and dizziness) to those of other common cardiopulmonary diseases such as COPD and asthma. The high rates of misdiagnosis of DB suggest that health care professionals do not fully understand this condition and may therefore fail to provide patients with an appropriate treatment. Given the multifarious, psychophysiological nature of DB, a holistic, multidimensional assessment would seem the most appropriate way to enhance understanding and diagnostic accuracy. The present narrative review was developed as a means of summarizing the available evidence about DB, as well as improving understanding of the condition by researchers and practitioners.

RESUMO A disfunção respiratória (DR) é um quadro respiratório caracterizado por padrões respiratórios irregulares que ocorrem na ausência de doenças concomitantes ou secundariamente a doenças cardiopulmonares. Embora o principal sintoma seja frequentemente dispneia ou "fome por ar", a DR também está associada a sintomas não respiratórios, como vertigem e palpitações. A DR pode ser identificada em todas as idades. Sua prevalência entre adultos na atenção primária no Reino Unido é de aproximadamente 9,5%. Além disso, entre indivíduos com asma, um diagnóstico positivo de DR é encontrado em um terço das mulheres e um quinto dos homens. Embora a DR tenha sido investigada por décadas, ela permanece pouco compreendida devido a uma escassez de ensaios clínicos de alta qualidade e de variáveis de desfecho validadas especificamente para essa população. Assim, a DR é frequentemente subdiagnosticada ou diagnosticada incorretamente, devido à similaridade de seus sintomas associados (dispneia, taquicardia e vertigem) aos de outras doenças cardiopulmonares comuns, como DPOC e asma. As altas taxas de diagnóstico incorreto de DR sugerem que os profissionais de saúde não entendam completamente esse quadro e possam, portanto, não fornecer aos pacientes um tratamento adequado. Dada à natureza multifatorial e psicofisiológica da DR, uma avaliação holística e multidimensional parece ser a maneira mais apropriada de melhorar a compreensão e a precisão do diagnóstico. A presente revisão foi desenvolvida como um meio de resumir as evidências disponíveis sobre DB, bem como de melhorar a compreensão do quadro por pesquisadores e profissionais.

Changes in the brain surface pH and cisternal cerebrospinal fluid acid-base variables in respiratory arrest.

Using flat-surface pH electrodes we continuously measured changes in the brain surface pH during respiratory arrest in anesthetized and paralyzed dogs which were previously ventilated with pure oxygen. Respiratory arrest was induced by halting the respirator. The mean arterial PO2 fell from 502.7 +/- 15.9 (1 SD) to 23.7 +/- 18.5, and the mean arterial PCO2 rose from 36.4 +/- 3.5 to 80.4 +/- 7.1 mm Hg, 10 min after asphyxia. The arterial blood pressure increased gradually over several minutes but fell relatively abruptly and profoundly at the end, due to circulatory failure. Initially, and as long as the arterial blood pressure and, therefore, cerebral blood flow were upheld (phase 1), changes in the brain surface pH were small (delta pH/delta t= -0.026 pH unit/min) in spite of severe hypercapnia. When cerebral perfusion pressure fell due to circulatory failure (phase 2), cerebral ischemia occurred and there was an abrupt fall in brain surface pH (delta pH/delta t= -0.067 pH unit/min). Changes in cisternal CSF [H+] grossly underestimated the magnitude of brain surface acidosis during the period of respiratory arrest; the initial difference between the mean brain surface fluid and cisternal CSF [H+] which was 8.9, rose to 15.1 and 47.4 nmol/L, respectively, 5 and 10 min after asphyxia. Changes in sagittal venous blood acid-base variables were more pronounced than those observed in the arterial blood or cisternal CSF; 5 min after respiratory arrest, arterial and sagittal venous blood and cisternal CSF and brain surface pH were 7.20, 7.09, 7.19 and 7.11, respectively. We conclude that (1) in the course of respiratory arrest cerebral outcome can potentially be determined by circulatory failure as evidenced by simultaneous changes in the arterial blood pressure and brain surface pH; (2) cisternal CSF acid-base changes lag behind those on the brain surface and CSF analyses provide unreliable information about the severity of brain acid-base changes during asphyxia; (3) changes in cerebral venous blood acid-base variables best represent the severity of metabolic aberrations in the brain during respiratory arrest.