title: A 56-Year-Old, Otherwise Healthy Woman Presenting With Light-headedness and Progressive Shortness of Breath.
abstract: A 56-year-old white woman was referred to the pulmonary clinic for evaluation of unexplained shortness of breath. She enjoyed good health until 3 months prior to this visit when she reported experiencing recurrent episodes of shortness of breath and oppressive retrosternal chest discomfort with radiation to the neck. Episodes lasting 5 to 10 min often occurred at rest and were inconsistently related to physical activity. These symptoms became progressively worse and were often associated with light-headedness and presyncope. Her past medical history was uneventful apart from a prior diagnosis of breast cysts and suspected prolactinoma. Her symptoms escalated to such a level that she was forced to seek urgent medical attention at our institutional ED on two separate occasions in the preceding weeks. These visits precipitated a number of investigations and, eventually, a referral to the pulmonary clinic.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Exercise Physiology and Respiratory Investigation Unit, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: alberto.neder@queensu.ca.
authors.forename: J Alberto
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Neder
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Exercise Physiology and Respiratory Investigation Unit, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Exercise Physiology and Respiratory Investigation Unit, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Joshua H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Exercise Physiology and Respiratory Investigation Unit, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Joel T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Zelt
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Division, Department of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Danilo C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Berton
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical Exercise Physiology and Respiratory Investigation Unit, Division of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Denis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004244:Dizziness / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006985:Hyperventilation / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011580:Psychological Techniques; D011788:Quality of Life; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests / Q000379:methods; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015013:Yoga