how does it present

Question 1

Asthma

Answer 1

• Dry cough with wheeze and shortness of breath
• Episodic symptoms
• Diurnal variability. Typically worse at night.
• Bilateral widespread “polyphonic” wheeze

Question 2

COPD

Answer 2

• SOB
• wheeze
• productive cough
• Expanded chest
• Abnormal breath sounds

Question 3

Pulmonary Embolism

Answer 3

Typical triad:
- sudden onset SOB
- pleuritic chest pain 
- haemoptysis 
(all 3 rarely present)

Tachycardia

Raised respiratory rate

Low grade fever

Question 4

Pneumothorax

Answer 4

Breathlessness

Pleuritic chest pain

tachycardia

Question 5

Pleural effusion

Answer 5

Breathlessness - lung compression

Little/no pleuritic pain

dry cough

Question 6

Lung Cancer

Answer 6

Cough (haemoptysis/dry/productive)

persistent breathlessness

Cachexia

Hypertrophic pulmonary osteoarthropathy:

• clubbing
• periostitis (layer surrounding bone)
• large joint arthropathy

Anaemia

Horner’s syndrome (if tumour is apical)

Question 7

pneumonia

Answer 7

Cough (dry, productive, blood-stained)

breathless

fever (tachycardic, dyspnoea, high temp, feeling unwell)

chest pain worse on coughing

Question 8

which resp conditions present with a dry cough

Answer 8

possibly pneumonia or cancer (can also be productive/ haemoptysis)
pleural effusion
asthma

Question 9

which resp conditions present with a productive cough

Answer 9

possibly pneumonia or cancer (can be dry/ haemoptysis)

COPD

Question 10

which resp conditions present with haemoptysis

Answer 10

possibly pneumonia or cancer (can also be dry/ productive)

Pulmonary Embolism