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Chronic dyspnea and hyperventilation in an awake patient with small subcortical infarcts
S C Johnston1, V Singh, H J Ralston
1Neurovascular Service, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0114, USA. clayj@itsa.ucsf.edu
Neurology
|December 12, 2001
Abstract:
A 79-year-old woman presented with chronic dyspnea and hyperventilation. There was no evidence of pulmonary disease. Hyperventilation persisted during sleep and after high-dose administration of a narcotic. A head MRI revealed bilateral medial thalamic infarctions. Central neurogenic hyperventilation was diagnosed in this alert patient. The case may illustrate a role for the thalamus in regulating ventilation, but another small infarct not visible on MRI also could be responsible.