03-25-2008, 08:51 AM
healthy 42 yr. old woman with a history of anxiety attacks sits in the hospital waiting room as her 3-
year-old daughter undergoes open heart surgery for a septal malformation. The woman experiences a
feeling of suffocation and is obviously hyperventilating. She informs her husband that she feels faint and
has blurred vision. Which of the following is most likely to relieve the symptoms caused by
hyperventilation?
A. Breathing a 10% oxygen/90% nitrogen mixture
B. Breathing 100% nitrogen
C. Breathing in and out of a plastic bag
D. Intravenous administration of bicarbonate
E. Lying down
year-old daughter undergoes open heart surgery for a septal malformation. The woman experiences a
feeling of suffocation and is obviously hyperventilating. She informs her husband that she feels faint and
has blurred vision. Which of the following is most likely to relieve the symptoms caused by
hyperventilation?
A. Breathing a 10% oxygen/90% nitrogen mixture
B. Breathing 100% nitrogen
C. Breathing in and out of a plastic bag
D. Intravenous administration of bicarbonate
E. Lying down