Shortness of Breath mechanism

[GomerPyle]

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This term always confuses me - I have always associated shortness of breath with some sort of barrier between the lungs and the lung capillaries (fibrosis, edema, etc).

There's a question in NBME 15 regarding a patient who is short of breath with exertion due to a stenotic RCA causing posterior ventricular hypokinesis. Can someone please explain to me how this actually causes "shortness of breath".

I would have assumed that a patient with a stenotic coronary artery would have chest pain on exertion rather than shortness of breath - I'd really appreciate some clarification.

Thanks!!

 

[chillaxbro]

bad heart function so you get fluid in your lungs? less blood pumped around your body so low O2 so you feel like you need to breathe more?

 

[PaxRoma]

In the clinical world, shortness of breath is a vague term patient used to describe difficulty breathing. This means a lot of thing, even psychiatric. In the Step I world, this term should point you to a cardio or pulmonary process. Nothing more can be extracted from this term without additional information.