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Kussmaul’s sign is the enlargement of jugular veins due to increased pressure when inhaling and can signal heart problems such as congestive heart failure and constrictive pericarditis. It is named after German physician Adolf Kussmaul.
Kussmaul’s sign, named after the German physician Adolf Kussmaul, is the enlargement of the jugular veins due to increased pressure when a person inhales. This condition can have many different heart-related causes; among the most common are congestive heart failure and constrictive pericarditis, both of which are potentially fatal. Appearance of Kussmaul’s sign during a physical exam can alert a doctor to the possible existence of these heart problems.
Kussmaul’s sign is named after the German physician Adolf Kussmaul, who first reported jugular symptoms in patients with constrictive pericarditis and other heart conditions. His name is used in the medical world to describe the enlarged jugular veins and various other conditions that he has noted, such as Kussmaul’s respiration and Kussmaul’s coma. Adolf Kussmaul is also credited with first characterizing a number of other conditions, including a learning disability called dyslexia.
In healthy people, the jugular vein doesn’t really appear prominent during inhalation. When you inhale, the pressure in the veins concentrates on the right side of the heart, which makes the veins less visible during inhalation. In some people, however, the jugular veins become enlarged during inhalation. This event can signal the existence of a heart condition, such as heart failure or constrictive pericarditis, that raises the blood pressure in a person’s veins. Pressure is the reason why the jugular veins protrude during inhalation.
Constrictive pericarditis, which is one of the conditions marked by Kussmaul’s sign, is characterized by inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. This causes the lining to harden and prevent the chambers of the heart from filling properly with blood. As a result, there is much more pressure on the veins and they may appear enlarged. This change is usually easiest to detect when a person inhales.
A person with congestive heart failure may also show Kussmaul’s sign. In fact, the sign is most commonly associated with this medical condition. When a person inhales, the pressure in the veins is carried to the right side of the heart. Right-sided congestive heart failure can cause pressure to remain in the jugular veins instead of passing normally to the right side of the heart. This buildup of pressure can then cause the jugular veins to protrude, as is normally the case when a patient develops Kussmaul’s sign.
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