Assessing, Diagnosing, and Treating Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disorders

Posted: May 5th, 2020

Assessing, Diagnosing, and Treating Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Disorders
Question 1: Chest X-ray Results
The findings to expect on the x-ray results for the diagnosis of pneumonia include an area of lung inflammation. Inflammation occurs due to infection of the airspaces of the lungs. The results will show airspace opacity, interstitial opacities, and lobar consolidation. An x-ray result will show white spots called infiltrates that indicate the presence of an infection (Konomura et al., 2017).
Question 2: Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia and Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Ms. Jones is suffering from community-acquired pneumonia. The reason is that she came to the healthcare facility with the symptoms of the disease. Hospital-acquired pneumonia refers to an infection contracted by a patient 48-72 hours after being admitted to a healthcare facility (Konomura et al., 2017). Community-acquired pneumonia is acquired outside a hospital due to exposure to pathogens.
Question 3:
• 3A) Severity Assessment Tool
The assessment tools to determine the severity of pneumonia include the pneumonia severity index or the PORT Score. Determining the severity of the disease is essential in determining the treatment options (Konomura et al., 2017). The severity will determine the treatment, including antibiotics, cough medicine, fever, or pain relievers.
The patient’s clinical factors demonstrate she is coughing, intermittent pain in her bilateral lower extremities, and pain on the left side of the back. The assessment of the tool shows the patient requires hospitalization for a few days. Hospitalization will allow assessment of the condition.
Question 4: Treatment of Left Lower Lobe Pneumonia
Treatment of left lower lobe pneumonia involves curing the infection and prevent related complications. Treatment will take place after hospitalization since the patient is over 65 years. It will involve antibiotics to treat bacterial pneumonia (Uranga et al., 2016). A physician will select an appropriate antibiotic to treat the disease. Cough medicine is necessary to calm or eliminate the cough (Uranga et al., 2016). Fever and pain relievers are necessary to address the pain the patient is going through.
Question 5: Gold Standard for Measuring Airflow Limitation
The gold standard of measuring airflow limitation for patients with a history of COPD is reduced FEV1/FVC ratio compared to the lower limit of normal for a specific measurement from a defined population (Shah et al., 2016). The measurement is essential since airflow limitation leads to difficulty in breathing and coughing. The standard gold measurement helps physicians to prescribe effective treatment.
Question 6: Potential Diagnosis
The best choice for a potential diagnosis is intermittent claudication. The condition causes pain, which subsides upon a short period of rest. It is one of the possible conditions since the patient has a history of COPD. It causes an itchy pain which occurs when an individual is walking (Shah et al., 2016). For instance, the patient states that she experiences the pain while walking, but the pain subsides upon stopping and resting briefly.
Question 7: Tests for Intermittent Pain
The patient requires various tests to determine the condition causing the pain in her bilateral legs. One of the tests is the Ankle-brachial index (ABI), which compares the ankle’s blood pressure with that of the arm (Konomura et al., 2017). If the pressure in the ankle is lower, it means a patient can experience blocked arteries. The normal ABI index is between 1.0 and 1.4
Question 8: Differentials
The patient’s initial presentation’s differential diagnosis includes pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma.
Question 9: Patient Education
Patient education includes taking deep breaths and cough several times every hour to loosen up mucus and get it out of the lungs. The patient should wash hands after blowing the nose or using the washroom to avoid further infections (Metlay et al., 2019). Coughing or sneezing on a disposable material or elbow. The daughter should ensure the mother is breathing warm moist air to avoid a sticky mucus that can chock a patient.
Question 10: Amoxicillin/clavulanate plus a Macrolide
Amoxicillin is one of the options available for the treatment of pneumonia. It is an effective bacteria that kills the bacteria, causing the disease. The patient should take Amoxicillin for a period of 5 days. Available literature shows that Amoxicillin can treat pneumonia successfully (Uranga et al., 2016). Macrolide is also an effective medication for community-acquired pneumonia. It is a class of antibiotics that kills germs.

References
Konomura, K., Nagai, H., & Akazawa, M. (2017). Economic burden of community-acquired pneumonia among elderly patients: a Japanese perspective. Pneumonia, 9(1), 19.
Metlay, J. P., Waterer, G. W., Long, A. C., Anzueto, A., Brozek, J., Crothers, K., … & Griffin, M. R. (2019). Diagnosis and treatment of adults with community-acquired pneumonia. An official clinical practice guideline of the American Thoracic Society and Infectious Diseases Society of America. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 200(7), 45-67.
Shah, S. S., Srivastava, R., Wu, S., Colvin, J. D., Williams, D. J., Rangel, S. J., … & Clohessy, C. (2016). Intravenous versus oral antibiotics for postdischarge treatment of complicated pneumonia. Pediatrics, 138(6).
Uranga, A., España, P. P., Bilbao, A., Quintana, J. M., Arriaga, I., Intxausti, M., … & Capelastegui, A. (2016). Duration of antibiotic treatment in community-acquired pneumonia: a multicenter randomized clinical trial. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(9), 1257-1265.