Evaluation of Dyspnea

Our plain-English summary of Evaluation of Dyspnea, by Charles F. Tate.

The study

• Author: Charles F. Tate
• Published: n.d.
• Type of article: Conference paper
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This article was not a research study. It was a clinical presentation by one physician, Charles F. Tate, M.D., of the University of Miami School of Medicine, on how doctors evaluate sudden shortness of breath (dyspnea). It reported no patients, no data and no statistics. It did not mention asbestos, asbestos-related diseases or any fiber type. The author listed causes of sudden shortness of breath, including spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung), pulmonary embolism, pulmonary edema, trauma, aspiration, airway blockage, asthma and inhaling noxious gases or fumes. Pneumoconiosis, a general term for dust-related lung disease, appeared only in a list of rare causes of collapsed lung. The author described how a collapsed lung can be hard to detect in patients with severe emphysema. The author also warned against giving morphine or other sedatives when severe emphysema might be mistaken for pulmonary edema, and against any sedation in severe asthma attacks unless an endotracheal (breathing) tube was in place with complete control. The scan was marked as illegible or of poor legibility in the original, and several passages could not be read.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Narrative clinical presentation (lecture-style overview by one physician); not an original research study
• Main results:
  • The author listed causes to consider in sudden shortness of breath, starting with spontaneous pneumothorax and including pulmonary embolism, pulmonary edema, trauma, aspiration, major airway occlusion, bronchial asthma and inhalation of noxious gases or fumes
  • The author named pneumoconiosis, along with asthma, honeycomb lung, staphylococcal pneumonia and tuberculosis, among rare causes of pneumothorax; asbestos was not mentioned
  • The author stated that tension pneumothorax is difficult to diagnose in patients with severe emphysema who have no reserve
  • The author advised against giving morphine or other sedatives when severe emphysema with bronchitis might be mistaken for acute pulmonary edema
  • The author advised against any type of sedation in status asthmaticus unless an endotracheal tube was in place with complete control

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Dyspnea, Pneumothorax, Pneumoconiosis, Emphysema.

Browse return to medical research.