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Section: Treatment In-depth
Definitive therapy is always dependent on establishment of a diagnosis. Since there are numerous potential causes of dyspnea, it is necessary to identify a specific cause to provide optimal therapy. Goals in therapy may include improving heart function, preventing fluid accumulation, preventing further deterioration of the heart muscle and antagonizing chemicals and hormones produced in excessive quantities in dyspnea. Rarely is it possible to cure heart disease. The most important causes of dyspnea in dogs are valve degeneration and cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease). Definitive treatment likely would require valve replacement (which is rarely done in dogs) or heart transplantation (not done currently). Dyspnea caused by fluid accumulation in the sac around the heart (pericardial effusion) is not treated by drugs but instead requires drainage of the fluid or removal of a portion of the pericardial membrane.
In laryngeal paresis/paralysis the larynx fails to open properly during inhaling, and this leads to airway obstruction. Located at the entrance to the windpipe and covered by a movable flap called the...
Pleural effusion is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the pleural space, which is the cavity between the lungs and the thoracic wall. Normally, some fluid is present in the pleural space to lubricate...
The diaphragm is the muscle that separates the abdominal organs from the heart and lungs, and a defect in the diaphragm allows abdominal organs such as the liver, stomach and intestines to enter the chest...
Pneumothorax is the abnormal presence of air within the chest cavity, which restricts the lungs from inflating normally during inhalation. Air is normally confined to spaces within the lungs.
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