Dyspnea in Patients with Covid-19

Abstract

Many patients with Covid-19 have pronounced hypoxemia, without signs of respiratory distress or dyspnea. This phenomenon is referred to as “happy hypoxemia” or “silent hypoxemia”. This finding in the midst of the largest pandemic of the last century has perplexed intensivists and pulmonologists. The objective of this review is to analyze the normal mechanisms involved in dyspnea and the probable pathophysiological alterations that could justify this dissociation between profound hypoxemia and absence of dyspnea.