Trepopnea

Overview
Trepopnoea is an abnormal awareness of one's own breathing that is seen in one lateral position but not in the other. For example, a person can become short of breath when lying on the right side, but can breathe easier if he or she lies on the left. This results from pathology of one lung, major bronchi, or chronic congestive heart failure. Patients with trepopnea resulting from lung disease prefer to lie on the side of the diseased lung. Studies have shown that patients with chronic heart failure prefer to lie mostly on the right lateral position, to avoid unfavorable autonomic modulation that occurs during sleep, whereby cardiac output is augmented.