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- 🩺 #54 - Shortness of Breath and Peripheral Oedema
🩺 #54 - Shortness of Breath and Peripheral Oedema
Haseeb Hamid
July 02, 2025
Shortness of Breath and Peripheral Oedema
📢 Quick announcement!
MedSnapp is launching a FREE webinar series over the coming weeks.
After speaking to hundreds of medical students, it’s clear that there’s much more to being a medic in 2025 than just medicine.
It’s important to not only acknowledge this, but also promote and facilitate it.
We want you to tell us what topics would be most useful to you as medical students/medics.
We’ll be getting the best experts to speak about each topic to provide the most value possible. And you’ll have plenty of time to ask questions too!
Let me know in the poll below (or reply to this email with any other suggestions).
Keep tuned for details on dates - coming very soon!
What webinar topics would be most useful to you as a medical student? |
🗒️ Question
A 68 year old man with a history of heart failure presents to A&E with sudden onset severe breathlessness. He reports waking up breathless at night and needing to sit up to breathe. He also notes worsening ankle swelling over the last few days.
On examination, his blood pressure is 100/60 mmHg, heart rate 110 bpm and respiratory rate 30 breaths per minute. He has a raised JVP, bilateral pitting oedema up to his knees and widespread crackles throughout both lung fields. His oxygen saturation is 87% on room air.
What is the most appropriate immediate action in managing his condition?
(A) Increase oral diuretics
(B) Arrange urgent echocardiography
(C) Administer intravenous furosemide
(D) Start low dose ACE inhibitor
(E) Perform urgent coronary angiography