Emphysema Case Study
Finley Welton
Created on November 27, 2023
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Transcript
Case Study
Finley Welton
Patient Information: Amy Sallow- 58 year old female- Lives in rural Arizona- Works in the livestock industry- Has been smoking for nearly 35 years
Patient History and symptoms
- As a child, Amy had frequently missed school due to respiratory infections- Since she works in the livestock industry, she is constantly breathing in dust and chemicals from the surrounding desert land and animals- She has had a mucus producing cough for many years, and assumed it was a side effect of smoking- More recently, she had noticed breathing difficulty when trying to work with the animals- She had begun to often get respiratory infections again, similar to how she did when she was a child
Tests performed
- Checked weight
- Checked Blood Pressure
- Checked heartbeat
- Listened to lungs
- Pulse Oximetry
- Pulmonary Function Test
results
- Her blood pressure was a little higher than normal, but it was not concerning
- There were soft wheezing sounds in her lungs
- Her blood oxygen levels were realatively normal
- After her PFT, her results came back less than average
What do you believe Amy's diagnosis is?
The diagnosis
Due to her history of respiratory infections and common symptoms, Amy was diagnosed with Bronchitis
Treatment
Amy was prescribed a long-term corticosteroid bronchodilator inhaler to help fight her current respiratory infection and help to support her respiratory system against developing new ones
However, after a month on the inhaler, she had began to return back to her prior state and have worsening symptoms.
Patient History and symptoms
- As a child, Amy had frequently missed school due to respiratory infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis- Since she works in the livestock industry, she is constantly breathing in dust and chemicals from the surrounding desert land and animals- She has had a mucus producing cough for many years, and assumed it was a side effect of smoking- More recently, she had noticed breathing difficulty when trying to work with the animals- She had begun to often get respiratory infections again, similar to how she did when she was a childSince the last visit:- Her cough has intensified, and she now experiences coughing fits that last minutes- After her last visit, she had stopped smoking- Her shortness of breath has began to worsen, and now takes place when she is not only working with the animals and maintenance work, but also doing things such as playing with her grandkids and vacuuming the house- When she is not having a breathlessness sensation, her husband has began to notice wheezing
- Checked weight
- Checked Blood Pressure
- Checked heartbeat
- Listened to lungs
- Pulse Oximetry
- Pulmonary Function Test
- CT scan
Tests performed
results
- There was unexplained weight loss
- Her blood pressure increased
- There are wheezing and crackle sounds in her lungs
- She has a "barrel chest" now where her chest is fixed in an outward position
- Her blood oxygen levels are very low
- Since last time, her performance on the PFT had dropped even lower below the average
- In her CT scan, Amy's doctor was able to find masses of damaged lung and alveoli pockets
What do you believe Amy's second diagnosis is?
what do you think was the greatest factor in the development of her emphysema?
The second diagnosis
Because of the lowered breathing performance, smoking history, and areas of damaged alveoli, Amy was diagnosed with Emphysema
treatment
Since there is no immediate cure for emphysema, the doctors had aimed to ease her symptoms and slow the progression- They recommended her husband stop smoking so she didn't have secondhand smoke- She should reduce her work out in the dust- She should continue to go on walks and perform light physical activity- They prescribed her with a Glycopyrrolate/formoterol (Bevespi Aerosphere) inhaler
What is emphysema
07.How does it pathologically affect the body
01.Description
06.Prevention
05.treatment
04.diagnosis
03.Signs and symptoms
02.Etiology
description of emphysema
Emphysema is one of the disease that is part of the COPD disorder (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) and is a disease that progresses very slowly over time
When the alveoli burst, it reduced the lung surface area which traps the destroyed tissue and then prevents oxygen from getting to the bloodstream
Emphysema is where the alveoli get damaged and it causes them to burst whic creates a large sac in the lungs of air in the lungs instead of a bunch of small ones in the alveoli
The lungs then slowly overfill and causes breathing to become increasingly difficult
Etiology
One of the biggest known causes for Emphysema is smoking, but other causes could be constant inhallation of air pollutants (fumes, chemicals, dust, etc), respiratory infections, and a genetic Alpha-1 antitryspin deficiency.
prevention
The easiest way to prevent against Emphysema is to not smoke and to reduce the amount of extra molecules in things such as air pollutants.
Signs and symptoms
wheezing
weight loss
Shortness of breath
cyanosis
Coughing up mucus
fatigue
chest pain
edema
chest infections
Muscle weakness
Diagnosis
Laboratory Tests include:- Chest X-Rays- CT Scans- Pulse Oximetry- Spirometry- Pulmonary Function Tests- Arterial Blood Gas- Electrocardiogram
treatment
There is no cure for Emphysema, but there are plenty of treatment options that can help to lessen symptoms such as: bronchodilators, anti-inflammatory medicine, oxygen therapy, and if serious enough, a lung transplant.The whole goal of treatments are simply just to ease the symptoms and slow the progression of the disease
How does it pathologically affect the body?
Circulatory system
When the lungs begin to fill up with trapped air and expand in the rib cage, it causes external pressure on the heart and impairs it from pumping blood. Also, since the heart is a muscle, the lack of oxygen affects how well it is able to pump blood around the body.
Digestive system
When the lugns expand, it also pushes on the stomach and other abdominal organs which prevents the person from eating enough food because the stomach has less room to fill up. Also, with the lack of oxygen, it is possible for people to have trouble gaining nutrients from food.
immune system
Due to the nature of this disease, it can easily be associated with frequent respiratory infection which will decrease the strength of the immune system and weaken its ability to fight against other pathogens elsewhere in the body.
nervous system
Overall, the lack of oxygen in the body will most likely affect the nervous system. It can cause damaged or impaired brain function and result in things such as epilepsy, dimentia, parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, and strokes.
Sources
- https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/emphysema#:~:text=Emphysema%20is%20one%20of%20the,alveoli%20(tiny%20air%20sacs).
- https://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/emphysema-diagnosis-and-treatments
- https://www.lung.org/lung-health-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/copd/symptoms-diagnosis/early-warning-signs
- https://www.thoracic.org/patients/patient-resources/resources/pulmonary-function-tests.pdf
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/emphysema/symptoms-causes/syc-20355555
- https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/emphysema#treatment-for-emphysema
- https://www.webmd.com/lung/copd/copd-bloating