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One hundred patients with hyperventilation syndrome presenting to emergency department(ED) were studied. Those were diagnosed on clinical basis by emergency medical physician. The male to female ratio was 15 : 85. In monthly distribution, the numbers of patients were increased during the two months, June and July. The 41% of patients visited the emergency center from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.. The most common predisposing factors were the domestic problems, especially those between husband and wife(37%). Presenting complaints were dyspnea(34), paresthesia(30), muscle spasm(24), dizziness(6) and palpitation(6 patients). The initial examination of the patients in the ED were as follows, systolic blood pressure(134+/-7.15mmHg), heart rate(87.67+/-14.34/minute), respiratory rate(22.21+/-3.34/minute) and body temperature(36.61+/-0.31 degrees C, n=98). Arterial blood gas analysis showed alkalemia(pH 7.51+/-0.09) and hypocapnia(PCO2 26.67+/-8.30mmHg). After emergency cares, including carbone dioxide re-breathing and antianxietics, most of the symptoms were disappeared. The mean duration of stay in ED was 3.27+/-0.23 hours. The most important considerations in diagnosis of hyperventilation syndrome was the patients's history and the effective management was carbon dioxide rebreathing for a few minutes and antianxietics.
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