This is a prospective registry of patients presenting with acute dyspnea to the emergency department of the city hospital in Nuremberg. There is evidence that acute dyspnea is associated with a mortality rate of 10%, however acute dyspnea is not perceived as a life-threatening condition, both in public and in health care providers. Our aim is to describe the patient collective concerning their demographics, baseline characteristics, type of referral and disposition, medical care processes and prognosis. Secondly, we want to evaluate if the subjective risk assessment of emergency department personnel matches with objective risk stratification tools and the actual outcome of the studied patients.