Explaining Unexplained Dyspnea

Explaining medically unexplained symptoms.

Patients with medically unexplained symptoms comprise from 15% to 30% of all primary care consultations. Physicians often assume that psychological factors account for these symptoms, but current theories of psychogenic causation, somatization, and somatic amplification cannot fully account for common unexplained symptoms. Psychophysiological and sociophysiological models provide plausible medi...

Explaining sudden unexplained death.

The language of medically unexplained dyspnea.

BACKGROUND Medically unexplained dyspnea (MUD) refers to a condition characterized by a sensation of dyspnea and is typically applied to patients presenting with anxiety and hyperventilation without cardiopulmonary explanations for their dyspnea. The diagnosis is difficult. We investigated whether descriptors of dyspnea and associated symptoms of MUD are differentially diagnostic. METHODS A r...

Explaining the Unexplained Causes of Syncope

Determining the cause of recurrent unexplained syncope remains a clinical challenge and a permanent quest. Guidelines and multiple studies emphasize that a clear deductive method based on a thorough interrogation and examination can usually disclose the etiology of syncope in the majority of cases (2). Nonetheless, in daily clinical practice, applying a simple comprehensive diagnostic approach ...

Persistent Unexplained Dyspnea: A Case of Hepatopulmonary Syndrome

Regarding a patient with dyspnea, the history and physical examination often lead to the correct diagnosis. In some circumstances, when more than one underlying disease is present, the diagnostic process can be more challenging. We describe an unusual case of dyspnea and persistent hypoxemia related to a hepatopulmonary syndrome in a 53-year-old patient with known heart failure and chronic live...