What is cardiac asthma? Causes and signs to recognize

The article was professionally consulted by Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Head of Respiratory - Asthma - Allergy - Clinical Immunology Unit, Vinmec Times City International Hospital.

Cardiac asthma is not a common type of asthma, but it is caused by heart failure and disease that impairs the function of the heart. As the disease progresses, fluid builds up, making the heart unable to pump blood effectively and the airways becoming narrow.

Asthma is a sudden onset of wheezing and shortness of breath in congestive heart failure. Cardiac asthma is not bronchial asthma.

Cardiac asthma occurs due to stagnation of pulmonary circulation and the presence or absence of acute pulmonary edema syndrome. In a normal person, the right heart brings blood to the lungs to exchange oxygen, then the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left heart, the left heart contracts to bring the oxygen-rich blood around the body.
In patients with left heart failure, the left heart is not able to pump all the blood from the lungs, causing "regurgitation", the pressure is back from the left heart to the lungs, causing bronchospasm. bronchi, resulting in narrowing of the airways of the lungs. Thus, the nature of cardiac asthma is completely different from bronchial asthma, because in bronchial asthma, bronchospasm is caused by chronic inflammation that narrows the airways. In addition, heart valve disease also affects the flow of blood, so it can also cause asthma.

From the cause of heart asthma, it is easy to recognize that heart asthma will appear in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease (left heart failure, open or narrow aortic valve, mitral stenosis, etc.). ..). Signs and symptoms of asthma can vary from person to person, and may appear after exercise, strenuous work (such as climbing stairs, hiking, etc.) or during sleep, including include:
Mental panic. Shortness of breath, rapid shallow breathing, shortness of breath (wheezing or not), if sleeping, the patient must sit up immediately because he cannot breathe. Increased heart rate, increased blood pressure. Sweating, pale skin, cold Ankle swelling, enlarged liver, little urine.

Asthma often occurs in elderly patients with heart failure. For the elderly, the heart muscle's ability to contract and eject blood is no longer good. In heart failure, the function is weaker and the blood is easily stagnate in the pulmonary circulation, causing asthma. Therefore, elderly people with heart failure should pay special attention when coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath increase and need to go to a reputable medical facility to be examined and treated by a specialist.

The basic principle of heart asthma treatment is to improve the heart's pumping ability, release stagnant blood in the pulmonary circulation (in other words, this is the treatment of heart failure), combined with bronchodilator. If heart asthma is caused by heart valves or some congenital heart disease with holes between the heart chambers, surgery or percutaneous intervention will be performed. The goals of treatment are control of nocturnal coughs, control of edema, and control of fluid intake and residual blood in the left ventricle.
Asthma is a dangerous condition that can be life-threatening. As soon as the symptoms appear, the patient should be examined and treated by a specialist as soon as possible. Cardiovascular screening is one of the ways to recognize early signs of disease, thereby providing an effective treatment regimen, which is being implemented and applied at Vinmec International General Hospital.