Dyspnea [antikvár]

I PREFACE I In the doctor's office, in tlie hospital admitting room, on the ward or on night calls, dyspnea may be encountered as a puzzling problem, a pressing challenge and oftentimes as an emergency which demands prompt assessment, accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment of the underlying disease. When dyspnea is observed postoperatively or it is seen in the newborn, precise knowledge of its cause and skillful use of medical or surgical measures may be lifesaving. Although dyspnea is discussed in a number of texts as one of the manifestations of various disorders, its discussion is, as a rule, limited, because of justifiable exigencies, and its appraisal is fragmentary and cursory rather than functional and descriptive of its natural history. For this reason, it has been the consensus of the contributing authors and editors of this book that the fundamentals of this subject should be critically analyzed—with due attention to anatomic, biochemical and pathomechanical changes and pertinent data presented in this volume which are of deiinite, practical significance. A glance at the Table of Contents reveals the heterogeneous and polygenous origin of dyspnea. Correspondingly, the text attests to the fact that the pathogenesis and the pathomechanics of dyspnea cannot be equated with disturbances