title: Utility of the peak expiratory flow rate in the differentiation of acute dyspnea. Cardiac vs pulmonary origin.
abstract: This study examined the utility of a peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurement in the differentiation of acute moderate to severe dyspnea secondary to congestive heart failure or chronic lung disease. A PEFR was determined in 41 episodes of acute respiratory distress in 40 patients prior to emergency department therapy. The mean PEFR +/- SD for the congestive heart failure group (n = 18) was 224 +/- 82 L/min, which was significantly higher (p less than 0.001) than that of the chronic lung disease group (n = 23), which had a mean PEFR of 108 +/- 49 L/min. No single cutoff value allowed 100 percent accurate classification, but the results suggest that the PEFR may be a useful adjunctive tool in the differentiation of acute dyspnea of cardiac vs pulmonary origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cionni
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests