Tachypnea | |
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Other names | Tachypnoea |
Pronunciation | |
Specialty | Respirology |
Tachypnea, also spelt tachypnoea, is a respiratory rate greater than normal, resulting in abnormally rapid and shallow breathing.[1]
In adult humans at rest, any respiratory rate of 12–20 per minute is considered clinically normal, with tachypnea being any rate above that.[2] Children have significantly higher resting ventilatory rates,[3] which decline rapidly during the first three years of life and then steadily until around 18 years. Tachypnea can be an early indicator of pneumonia and other lung diseases in children, and is often an outcome of a brain injury.