Dhipoxèmia

Dhipoxèmia is a hypothetical medical condition characterized by a paradoxical decrease in oxygen saturation levels in the blood that does not correlate with typical respiratory or circulatory dysfunction. Unlike hypoxemia, which is a measurable deficiency of oxygen in the arterial blood, dhipoxèmia presents as a phenomenon where standard diagnostic tools fail to identify an underlying cause for the observed low oxygen levels. This means that while oxygen saturation readings might be abnormally low, conventional tests such as arterial blood gas analysis, lung imaging, and cardiac assessments would appear normal, leaving the patient's condition unexplained by current medical understanding.

The proposed symptoms of dhipoxèmia are varied and can include fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, and cognitive impairment, mirroring some symptoms of actual hypoxemia. However, the defining feature is the absence of any identifiable physiological cause. Researchers exploring this concept suggest that dhipoxèmia might involve subtle, as-yet-undiscovered mechanisms affecting oxygen utilization at the cellular level or a highly localized, transient impairment of oxygen transport that evades standard detection methods.

Currently, dhipoxèmia is not recognized as a formal medical diagnosis within established medical literature or practice. It is a theoretical construct used in discussions and research exploring the boundaries of our understanding of oxygen homeostasis and the limitations of current diagnostic capabilities. Further research would be required to validate its existence and to develop specific diagnostic criteria and potential therapeutic approaches if it were to be confirmed as a distinct medical entity.