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Previous Volume 353:2385-2390 December 1, 2005 Number 22 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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An 80-year-old man presented to his physician's office for evaluation of shortness of breath and fatigue four weeks after repair of a hiatal hernia. He reported a mild, nonproductive cough and abdominal bloating. Prior to the surgery, he had been very active and had had no dyspnea.

Postoperative shortness of breath may be due to many conditions, including atelectasis, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, pneumothorax, cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial ischemia, heart failure, or even anemia. The absence of preoperative symptoms suggests that surgery was the precipitating event. Given the type of surgery performed, one possible sequela is bronchospasm due to gastroesophageal reflux.

The . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Commentary

Source Information

From the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Wang at Duke University Medical Center, DUMC Box 3428, Durham, NC 27710, or at a.wang@duke.edu.

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