Hypoxia

(Originally posted on: February 8, 2016

A 52 yo woman is sent to you by her primary care physician for evaluation of hypoxia.  She has no symptoms except for early fatigue when she attempts to exercise. She is a lifelong nonsmoker and has no significant past medical history except for hypertension.  Pulse oximetry on room air at rest is 80%. You order full PFTs which reveal normal spirometry and lung volumes, but DlCO adjusted for Hb is 40% predicted.

Exam reveals mild digital clubbing.

1) What diagnosis driven questions do you ask her about her history?

 

2) What is the next best step in her evaluation?

 

Continued in a subsequent post

One Comment on “Hypoxia

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *