Kussmaul breathing
Kußmaul breathing (named after the German biologist and internist Adolf Kußmaul - the doctor first noticed this type of breathing in patients in 1874; the name has nothing to do with the position of the mouth), also called acidosis breathing or acidosis compensation breathing , describes a pathological breathing pattern which manifests itself in an increased breathing activity ( hyperventilation ) of normal frequency. The cause of this is over- acidosis ( acidosis ) of the blood ( diabetic coma , metabolic acidosis ).
Pathophysiology
Kussmaul breathing is an expression of metabolic acidosis, which is caused either by a loss of bicarbonate or by an increased H + concentration in the blood.
If the number of protons (H + ) in the blood is above the normal values, the body tries to counteract the drop in pH via the carbonic acid-bicarbonate system . This is where the excess protons are bound to bicarbonate, which ultimately creates carbonic acid (H 2 CO 3 ). Since carbonic acid is unstable, it breaks down into carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water (H 2 O). As a result of the high content of dissolved CO 2 , the organism reflexively causes a drive to exhale the carbon dioxide (respiratory compensation for metabolic acidosis) and thus tries to counteract a drop in the pH value. The Kussmaul breathing is characterized by characteristic deepened, noisy and normal-frequency breathing movements.
See also
literature
- W. Oczenski (Ed.): Breathing - Respiratory aids: Respiratory physiology and ventilation technology. 8th edition. Thieme, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-13-137698-5 .
Original description
- A. Kußmaul: On the doctrine of diabetes mellitus. About a peculiar way of death in diabetic people, about acetonemia, glycerine treatment of diabetes, and injections of diastase into the blood in this disease. In: German archive for clinical medicine. Leipzig 1874, 14, pp. 1-46.
