Cardiac asthma

Abstract

Cardiac dyspnea, especially if present only with exercise, is often confused with asthma and exercise-induced bronchospasm. Cardiac dyspnea or asthma is the consequence of pulmonary edema due to pulmonary venous hypertension and not due to asthmatic bronchoconstriction. In overt, acute congestive heart failure, the diagnosis may be readily made by history and physical examination and pertinent laboratory and imaging data.