Cardiac asthma
| Classification according to ICD-10 | |
|---|---|
| I50.1 |
Left Heart Failure Cardiac Asthma |
| ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019) | |
Asthma cardiale ( Latinized from Greek ἆσθμα , "the wheezing" - for a more precise origin of the word compare asthma bronchiale - and Greek καρδιά , kardia "heart") is the name given to the considerable and often frightening breathlessness as a result of congestion in the small circulation in left heart failure .
In contrast to bronchial asthma, cardiac asthma is not viewed as an independent disease, but as a symptom of left heart failure.
The seizures usually occur at night while lying down, as there is an increase in the blood volume in the pulmonary circulation - when the body is upright, relatively more blood remains in the lower half of the body due to gravity. Patients with cardiac asthma usually lie on several pillows to sleep in order to lower the hydrostatic pressure with an elevated upper body.
Cardiac asthma manifests itself in shortness of breath ( dyspnoea ), which may improve when sitting up and worsen when lying flat ( orthopnea ). Secondarily, bronchial obstruction can also occur, which, like bronchial asthma, is usually noticeable through wheezing .
In the most severe form, cardiac asthma can turn into acute pulmonary edema . When the capillary pulmonary pressure is increased further, serous tissue fluid escapes into the alveoli ( transudation ), which is coughed up as a slightly bloody, foamy fluid. Pulmonary edema is associated with extreme shortness of breath and a feeling of suffocation.
As a differential diagnosis z. B. nocturnal seizures in patients with bronchial asthma, pneumonia or an exacerbation of COPD into consideration.
In dogs, the shortness of breath manifests itself in the form of coughing symptoms that occur mainly at night and in the morning hours, which are referred to here as "heart cough".
