Etiological Profiles of Acute Dyspnea in The Cardio-Respiratory Diseases Department: A Retrospective Study at Morafeno University Hospital Center, Toamasina, Madagascar
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47363/JCRRR/2026(7)214Keywords:
Acute Dyspnea, Etiologies, Cardiovascular Diseases, Decompensated Heart Failure, Infectious Pneumonia, Bronchopulmonary Diseases, Madagascar, Resource-Limited SettingsAbstract
Background: Acute dyspnea represents a subjective experience of respiratory discomfort that constitutes a major handicap for affected patients. In most cases, it represents a diagnostic and therapeutic emergency and must be considered as a sign of severity of the underlying disease, which may have multiple etiologies. Understanding the etiological profile of acute dyspnea in resource-limited settings is essential for optimizing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Objective: To determine the most frequent etiologies of acute dyspnea in patients admitted to the Cardio-Respiratory Diseases Department of Morafeno University Hospital Center in Toamasina, Madagascar.
Methods: We conducted a single-center retrospective descriptive study over a 63-month period from January 2015 to March 2020. All patients admitted with acute dyspnea during this period were included. Data were collected from medical records and analyzed to determine the distribution of etiological categories and specific diagnoses.
Results: A total of 357 patients were included in the study. Cardiovascular causes were the predominant etiology, accounting for 64.15% (n=229) of cases, followed by bronchopulmonary causes at 33.89% (n=121). Other etiologies represented only 2.0% (n=7) of cases. Among cardiovascular causes, decompensated heart failure was the leading diagnosis, representing approximately 89-92% of cardiovascular etiologies. Infectious pneumonia dominated the bronchopulmonary causes.
Conclusion: Acute dyspnea is a multifactorial symptom that can be severely disabling. In the Cardio-Respiratory Diseases Department of Morafeno University Hospital Center, decompensated heart failure is the leading cause of acute dyspnea, followed by infectious pneumonia. These findings highlight the need for strengthened cardiovascular and infectious disease management capacity in resource-limited settings.
