[Differential diagnosis of asthma and dysfunctional breathing and vocal cord dysfunction]

The clinical manifestations of bronchial asthma are complex and variable, which can easily be confused with other diseases. So misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of asthma are common. In the differential diagnosis of asthma, organic diseases such as left ventricular dysfunction, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and upper airway obstruction are most often considered, but the understanding of functional disease is insufficient. In fact, GINA guidelines suggested that the differential diagnosis in adult patients with suspected asthma needed to prioritize functional diseases such as dysfunctional breathing (DB)/hyperventilation syndrome (HVS) and vocal cord dysfunction (VCD), rather than organic disease. Here we review the concepts of DB and VCD and their differentiation from asthma.