Foreign body aspiration occurs when a foreign body enters the airway which can cause difficulty breathing or choking. Objects may reach the respiratory tract and the digestive tract from the mouth and nose, but when an object enters the respiratory tract it is termed aspiration. The foreign body can then become lodged in the trachea or further down the respiratory tract such as in a bronchus. Regardless of the type of object, any aspiration can be a life-threatening situation and requires timely recognition and action to minimize risk of complications. While advances have been made in management of this condition leading to significantly improved clinical outcomes, there were still 2,700 deaths resulting from foreign body aspiration in 2018. Approximately one child dies every five days due to choking on food in the United States, highlighting the need for improvements in education and prevention. Signs and symptoms
Signs and symptoms of foreign body aspiration vary based on the site of obstruction, the size of the foreign body, and the severity of obstruction. 20% of foreign bodies become lodged in the upper airway, while 80% become lodged in a bronchus. Signs of foreign body aspiration are usually abrupt in onset and can involve coughing, choking, and/or wheezing; however, symptoms can be slower in onset if the foreign body does not cause a large degree of obstruction of the airway. With this said, aspiration can also be asymptomatic on rare occasions.Classically, patients present with acute onset of choking.
Signs and symptoms
Symptoms of cardiomyopathies may include fatigue, swelling of the lower extremities and shortness of breath after exertion. Additional symptoms of the condition may include arrhythmia, fainting, and dizziness. Causes
Cardiomyopathies can be of genetic (familial) or non-genetic (acquired) origin. Genetic cardiomyopathies usually are caused by sarcomere or cytoskeletal diseases, neuromuscular disorders, inborn errors of metabolism, malformation syndromes and sometimes are unidentified. Non-genetic cardiomyopathies can have a definitive causes such as viral infections, myocarditis and others.Cardiomyopathies are either confined to the heart or are part of a generalized systemic disorder, both often leading to cardiovascular death or progressive heart failure-related disability. Other diseases that cause heart muscle dysfunction are excluded, such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, or abnormalities of the heart valves. Often, the underlying cause remains unknown, but in many cases the cause may be identifiable. Alcoholism, for example, has been identified as a cause of dilated cardiomyopathy, as has drug toxicity, and certain infections (including Hepatitis C). Untreated celiac disease can cause cardiomyopathies, which can completely reverse with a timely diagnosis. In addition to acquired causes, molecular biology and genetics have given rise to the recognition of various genetic causes.A more clinical categorization of cardiomyopathy as hypertrophied, dilated, or restrictive, has become difficult to maintain because some of the conditions could fulfill more than one of those three categories at any particular stage of their development.