Dyspnea: neurobiological and clinical aspects

ABSTRACT

The aim. The presented material reflects the results of studies by Russian specialists conducted under the auspices of the Russian Respiratory Society over the past 15 years. The article also includes the main provisions set out in the III Guidelines for dyspnea. A significant part of the manual is devoted to the recent achievements in studying neurophysiological processes in the brain structures during the development of dyspnea. These achievements were driven by image-diagnosis methods. An important aspect of this series of works for the clinical practice was identifying dyspnea domains and developing the instruments to assess severity. Results. Analysis of the data on dyspnea from the clinical practice showed a highly heterogenic clinical picture, which must be taken into account in the management of individual patients. A diagnostic algorithm for long-term follow-up of patients with dyspnea syndrome is also discussed. The attention of doctors is drawn to the features of dyspnea during COVID-19;the disproportion between the sensory perception of respiratory discomfort and the degree of oxygen desaturation is emphasized. Conclusion. It was concluded that in the Russian-speaking environment of patients, doctors should actively use a verbal characteristic of dyspnea – the “language of dyspnea”. © 2021 Medical Education. All rights reserved.