Resources · A–Z of Conditions
An A–Z of heart and lung conditions.
Plain-language guides to common heart and lung conditions — each guide follows the same clear structure. Every condition also has a clinical evidence summary.
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Conditions A–Z
Plain-language guides to common heart and lung conditions, each built on the same structure. Every guide also has a clinician-facing evidence summary — turn on clinical evidence to add it to each card.
Plain-language guides. Turn on clinical evidence to add the referenced summary to every card.
A
RespiratoryAcute Respiratory Distress SyndromeSudden, severe lung injury causing dangerously low oxygen.Clinical evidenceBerlin criteria define it; management is supportive and ventilator-led, not physiotherapy-led.
RespiratoryAllergic Bronchopulmonary AspergillosisAn allergic reaction to Aspergillus mould in the airways.Clinical evidenceA hypersensitivity response to Aspergillus colonising the airway in asthma and cystic fibrosis.
RespiratoryAlpha-1 Antitrypsin DeficiencyAn inherited cause of early-onset emphysema.Clinical evidenceThe one common genetic cause of COPD: early onset, basal emphysema, and a reason to screen family.
CardiacAortic AneurysmPermanent widening of the aorta, and what it means for exercise.Clinical evidenceSupervised exercise does not accelerate growth; what is limited is the pressure response, not activity.
CardiacAortic StenosisNarrowing of the aortic valve.Clinical evidenceA mechanical obstruction with a fixed cardiac output ceiling, which caps safe exercise intensity.
RespiratoryAspiration PneumoniaChest infection after food, drink or saliva enters the airway.Clinical evidenceOral care, positioning and swallow management outperform chest physiotherapy — the problem is recurrent insult.
RespiratoryAsthmaReversible airway narrowing and inflammation.Clinical evidenceControl is staged pharmacologically under GINA; our contribution is technique, pattern and adherence.
RespiratoryAtelectasisCollapsed, non-inflating lung tissue — and the physiotherapy that reverses it.Clinical evidenceCollapsed, non-inflating lung tissue, and the lung-expansion therapy that reliably reverses it.
CardiacAtrial FibrillationAn irregular, often fast heart rhythm.Clinical evidenceAn integrated pathway under the ESC AF-CARE framework, not a choice between rate and rhythm.
B
RespiratoryBronchiectasisWidened, scarred airways prone to infection.Clinical evidenceA self-perpetuating vicious vortex of impaired clearance, infection and airway inflammation.
RespiratoryBronchiolitisA common viral chest infection of the small airways in babies.Clinical evidenceThe clearest case in cardiorespiratory practice where the evidence supports doing less, not more.
PaediatricBronchopulmonary DysplasiaChronic lung disease of prematurity — a lung that stopped growing, not one that scarred.Clinical evidenceThe paediatric condition adult-trained physiotherapists most often mismanage as chronic lung disease.
C
Critical careCardiogenic ShockCirculatory failure when the heart cannot pump enough blood.Clinical evidenceMobilisation is feasible on mechanical support; the question is whether the circulation can afford it.
CardiacCardiomyopathiesDiseases of the heart muscle.Clinical evidenceNot one exercise problem but four, and the phenotype decides what is safe to prescribe.
CardiacCentral Sleep ApnoeaBreathing pauses because the brain stops sending the signal — usually a sign of something else.Clinical evidenceTwo negative trials define the field: CANPAP found no benefit, SERVE-HF found increased mortality.
RespiratoryChronic BronchitisLong-term productive cough from inflamed, mucus-heavy airways.Clinical evidenceA symptom-defined phenotype: productive cough on most days for three months in two consecutive years.
RespiratoryChronic Refractory BreathlessnessBreathlessness that persists despite optimal treatment — a condition in its own right, and a treatable one.Clinical evidenceA syndrome in which the non-drug evidence is stronger than the drug evidence, and often reversed.
CardiacCongenital Heart DiseaseHeart conditions present from birth.Clinical evidenceAdults now outnumber children, and both ESC and AHA/ACC stress lifelong specialist follow-up.
RespiratoryConnective Tissue Disease-Associated ILD (CTD-ILD)Lung scarring driven by autoimmune disease — and, unusually, scarring that treatment can slow.Clinical evidenceThe one fibrosing lung disease with randomised evidence that immunosuppression preserves function.
RespiratoryCOPDChronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Clinical evidenceGOLD and COPD-X have moved from FEV1-driven care to symptoms, exacerbations and treatable traits.
CardiacCoronary Artery DiseaseNarrowing of the heart’s arteries.Clinical evidenceThe 2024 ESC guideline treats stable disease as a modifiable process, not a plumbing problem.
RespiratoryCOVID-19The acute illness caused by SARS-CoV-2.Clinical evidenceIn a vaccinated population this is a different disease from 2020, and a different rehabilitation.
RespiratoryCystic FibrosisAn inherited multi-system condition affecting the lungs.Clinical evidenceReorganised twice: first by mucoactive and inhaled antibiotics, now by CFTR modulator therapy.
D
VascularDeep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)A blood clot in a deep vein, usually the leg.Clinical evidenceA direct oral anticoagulant is first-line, with duration decided by whether the clot was provoked.
RespiratoryDysfunctional BreathingAltered breathing patterns and laryngeal obstruction.Clinical evidenceA heterogeneous group of abnormal patterns, and one of the few conditions physiotherapy leads.
E
RespiratoryEmphysemaPermanent damage to the lung air sacs that traps air.Clinical evidenceThe hyperinflating phenotype within COPD, where hyperinflation drives the breathlessness.
RespiratoryEmpyemaInfected fluid collecting around the lung.Clinical evidenceA drainage and antibiotic problem rather than a physiotherapy one, and timing decides the outcome.
RespiratoryExercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction (EILO)The voice box narrowing during hard exercise.Clinical evidenceA laryngeal cause of exertional dyspnoea mistaken for asthma; therapy, not pharmacology, treats it.
F
RespiratoryFlail ChestA serious chest-wall injury from multiple rib fractures.Clinical evidenceNow managed as a pain and ventilation problem with a selective surgical option, not immobilised.
G
CardiacGiant Cell MyocarditisA rare and rapidly progressive inflammation of the heart muscle.Clinical evidenceImmunosuppression and early transplant referral shape prognosis; rehabilitation evidence is drawn from recovery after critical illness.
RespiratoryGranulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA)A small-vessel vasculitis that inflames the sinuses, airways, lungs and kidneys.Clinical evidenceANCA-associated vasculitis guidelines direct treatment; physiotherapy evidence is extrapolated from interstitial and large-airway disease.
H
CardiacHeart FailureWhen the heart cannot pump efficiently enough.Clinical evidenceClassified by ejection fraction phenotype, with exercise training a class I recommendation throughout.
RespiratoryHigh-Altitude CoughThe dry, violent cough of high altitude — often called Khumbu cough — and how to tell it from HAPE.Clinical evidenceA chamber study at simulated 8,848 m broke the cold-dry-air explanation, and there is still no treatment trial of any kind.
RespiratoryHypersensitivity PneumonitisAn immune reaction in the lung to something breathed in — and finding it matters more than any drug.Clinical evidenceThe 2020 guideline split this into fibrotic and non-fibrotic, because fibrosis predicts the outcome.
CardiacHypertensionHigh blood pressure.Clinical evidenceThe 2024 ESC guideline made blood pressure a continuous risk factor with an elevated category.
CardiacHypertension in PregnancyHigh blood pressure in pregnancy, and the risk signal it carries.Clinical evidenceExercise reduces incidence, and a hypertensive pregnancy is a long-term cardiovascular risk marker.
I
Critical careICU-Acquired WeaknessProfound weakness after critical illness — and the long recovery.Clinical evidenceLargely iatrogenic, and the two modifiable levers are sedation depth and time spent immobile.
RespiratoryIdiopathic Pulmonary FibrosisProgressive scarring of the lungs.Clinical evidenceAntifibrotic therapy slows decline without reversing it, so symptom management carries the weight.
CardiacInfective EndocarditisInfection of the heart valves or lining.Clinical evidenceDiagnosed and managed by an endocarditis team, because the decisions are surgical as well as medical.
RespiratoryInfluenzaA contagious viral respiratory illness — more than a bad cold.Clinical evidencePrevented rather than treated: annual vaccination is the intervention with the largest effect.
Critical careInhalation InjurySmoke, hot gases and chemicals — and an airway that can swell for hours after the exposure.Clinical evidenceSeverity cannot be graded reliably at presentation, and no biomarker has yet resolved that problem.
RespiratoryInterstitial Lung DiseaseConditions that inflame or scar the lung tissue itself.Clinical evidenceThe organising concept is now behaviour, not diagnosis: progressive pulmonary fibrosis is formalised.
J
RespiratoryJob's Syndrome (Hyper-IgE Syndrome)An inherited immune disorder causing recurrent lung abscesses and air-filled lung cavities.Clinical evidenceManagement follows non-CF bronchiectasis principles; airway clearance evidence is extrapolated from that literature.
K
RespiratoryKartagener Syndrome (Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia)Cilia that never cleared mucus, so clearance has to be done by hand.Clinical evidenceDaily clearance is substituted, not augmented — and the hypertonic saline trial in PCD was negative.
CardiacKawasaki DiseaseA childhood vasculitis that can damage the coronary arteries.Clinical evidenceIVIG within ten days cuts aneurysm rates from a quarter to under five per cent.
L
RespiratoryLegionnaires' DiseaseA severe pneumonia from contaminated water or potting mix.Clinical evidenceA severe community-acquired pneumonia with a disproportionate ICU rate, treated with a macrolide.
RespiratoryLong COVIDPost-acute sequelae after COVID-19.Clinical evidenceA symptom-defined diagnosis of exclusion with several patterns that are treated quite differently.
CardiacLong QT SyndromeA delayed electrical reset that can cause fainting or cardiac arrest.Clinical evidenceBeta blocker "failures" are usually missed doses or a new QT-prolonging drug.
RespiratoryLung AbscessA pocket of infection that has destroyed a small area of lung — weeks of antibiotics, and a real caution about postural drainage.Clinical evidenceA clinical diagnosis on a long antibiotic course, with almost no randomised evidence behind it.
RespiratoryLung CancerTypes, treatment and the role of physiotherapy.Clinical evidenceChanged on two fronts: low-dose CT screening reduces mortality, and systemic therapy has moved on.
M
RespiratoryMesotheliomaAsbestos-related cancer of the lung lining.Clinical evidenceA disease in which the surgical era has closed and the systemic and supportive-care era has opened.
N
RespiratoryNasal PolypsChronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps — inflammation, blockage and loss of smell.Clinical evidenceA type 2 inflammatory disease of the whole airway that recurs unless the inflammation is treated.
O
RespiratoryObesity Hypoventilation SyndromeDaytime low oxygen and high carbon dioxide with obesity.Clinical evidenceObesity, daytime hypercapnia and sleep-disordered breathing, with weight loss the definitive treatment.
RespiratoryObstructive Sleep ApnoeaRepeated airway collapse during sleep.Clinical evidenceTreated for symptoms and function first, since the cardiovascular trial evidence stayed neutral.
RespiratoryOccupational & Dust Lung DiseaseLung disease from workplace exposures.Clinical evidenceThe one respiratory category where the most effective treatment is administrative: ending exposure.
P
CardiacPericarditis & MyocarditisInflammation of the sac around the heart or heart muscle.Clinical evidenceTwo inflammatory conditions with opposite implications for whether exercise is safe to prescribe.
VascularPeripheral Arterial DiseaseNarrowed arteries to the limbs.Clinical evidenceA limb problem and a marker of systemic atherosclerosis; supervised exercise is first-line therapy.
RespiratoryPertussis (Whooping Cough)A highly contagious bacterial cough illness.Clinical evidenceManaged almost entirely by prevention, with antibiotics given for transmission rather than cure.
RespiratoryPleural EffusionA build-up of fluid around the lung causing breathlessness.Clinical evidenceTwo questions decide management: transudate or exudate, and is the breathlessness worth draining.
RespiratoryPneumoniaInfection of the lung tissue.Clinical evidenceThe clearest case where chest physiotherapy was tested and failed while mobilisation succeeded.
RespiratoryPneumothoraxA collapsed lung caused by air in the pleural space.Clinical evidenceManagement of primary spontaneous disease has shifted decisively toward conservative treatment.
CardiacPost-Myocardial InfarctionRecovery and cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack.Clinical evidenceEarly revascularisation and short admission, with rehabilitation carrying the long-term benefit.
CardiacPOTS & DysautonomiaPostural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.Clinical evidenceDefined by a sustained heart-rate rise on standing, and treated with graded, recumbent-start exercise.
VascularPulmonary Embolism & CTEPHClots in the lung circulation.Clinical evidenceRisk-stratified rather than uniformly admitted, using haemodynamics, right ventricle and troponin.
VascularPulmonary HypertensionHigh pressure in the lung arteries.Clinical evidenceThe 2022 guideline lowered the threshold to a mean pulmonary artery pressure above 20 mmHg.
CardiacPulmonary OedemaSudden fluid build-up in the lungs, usually from the heart.Clinical evidenceAn alveolar-flooding and loading problem, treated with positive pressure and vasodilatation.
Q
R
RespiratoryRespiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)A common seasonal virus — serious for babies and older adults.Clinical evidenceChanged more in three years than in the preceding thirty, and the change is entirely in prevention.
CardiacRheumatic Heart DiseasePermanent valve damage following rheumatic fever.Clinical evidenceA disease of inequity that in Australia falls overwhelmingly on First Nations communities.
RespiratoryRhinitisInflammation of the lining of the nose — allergic and non-allergic.Clinical evidenceThe most under-treated chronic respiratory condition here; the failure point is delivery, not drug.
S
RespiratorySarcoidosisInflammatory granulomas affecting the lungs and beyond.Clinical evidenceA multisystem granulomatous disease with a variable course in which many patients remit untreated.
VascularSickle Cell AnaemiaAn inherited blood disorder with major lung complications.Clinical evidenceAcute chest syndrome is the leading cause of death, and it often begins as a vaso-occlusive crisis.
RespiratorySilicosisA preventable scarring lung disease from silica dust.Clinical evidenceEntirely preventable with no disease-modifying treatment, so exposure control carries the weight.
RespiratorySinusitisAcute and chronic rhinosinusitis — blockage, facial pressure and discharge.Clinical evidenceTwo opposite problems under one word: acute over-treated, chronic under-treated for years.
T
CardiacTakotsubo SyndromeA stress-triggered heart muscle problem that usually recovers.Clinical evidenceNot benign acutely, but no fixed lesion — graded return and psychological recovery, not plaque prevention.
CardiacTetralogy of FallotThe most common cyanotic congenital heart defect.Clinical evidenceA repaired condition rather than a cured one, needing lifelong surveillance of the right heart.
RespiratoryTracheobronchomalaciaFloppy central airways that collapse on expiration — where coughing harder clears less.Clinical evidenceA threshold problem: the 50% collapse criterion is met by many entirely healthy volunteers.
RespiratoryTuberculosisAn infectious lung disease, preventable and curable.Clinical evidenceCured by drug therapy, with regimens now shortened to as little as four months of treatment.
U
CardiacUhl's AnomalyA congenital near-absence of right ventricular muscle. Fewer than 100 cases described.Clinical evidenceCase-report-level evidence throughout; the substantive question is separating it from ARVC.
CardiacUnstable AnginaChest pain that has become unpredictable — a same-day emergency.Clinical evidenceHigh-sensitivity troponin has reclassified much of this diagnosis as small NSTEMI.
V
CardiacValvular Heart DiseaseValve narrowing or leakage, and post-cardiac-surgery care.Clinical evidenceA mechanical problem with a timing decision at its centre: severity, symptoms and the ventricle.
RespiratoryVaping and Lung Injury (EVALI)Lung injury linked to vaping, and what is known about longer-term effects.Clinical evidenceA contaminant problem, not an inevitable consequence of vaping — and the advice depends on where the patient started.
CardiacVentricular ArrhythmiasAbnormal rhythms from the lower chambers of the heart.Clinical evidenceEctopy suppressing with exertion is benign; ectopy rising with workload is not. Thresholds that stop a session.
W
CardiacWolff–Parkinson–White SyndromeAn extra electrical pathway causing sudden fast heartbeats — usually curable.Clinical evidenceSudden death risk is about 0.1% per year in asymptomatic pre-excitation.
X
CardiacX-linked Dilated CardiomyopathyA dystrophin fault that weakens the heart while sparing the muscles.Clinical evidenceCarrier females are not unaffected — a proportion develop cardiomyopathy and need surveillance.
Y
RespiratoryYellow Nail SyndromeYellow nails, leg swelling and chronic chest disease — a rare triad.Clinical evidenceThe full triad is the exception; the chest disease is what shapes the day.
Z
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These resources are for general education and are not a substitute for individualised assessment by a qualified clinician. If your symptoms change suddenly or severely, seek urgent medical care.