Vocal Cord Dysfunction - VCD

Overview

A practical and academic emergency approach to PVFM / VCD / ILO as a functional, reversible cause of inspiratory dyspnea and throat-level stridor. This card is not about acute laryngospasm, angioedema, croup, or epiglottitis. Here, the larynx narrows inappropriately during inspiration or in response to a trigger, often with preserved oxygenation and poor objective response to bronchodilators. The on-call task is to separate the patient who needs airway rescue from the patient who needs calm instruction, breathing-pattern control, laryngeal retraining, and follow-up instead of repeated asthma escalation.