Diagnosis
Cardiac asthma can be very difficult to diagnose because of its similarity to asthma. Misdiagnosis usually happens. Doctors can differentiate between the two of them by taking a look at your medical history and risk factors to know whether heart failure is the cause.
Even if the first symptoms observed indicate that asthma is the cause, checking the sounds from the lungs using a stethoscope can differentiate between asthma and illnesses like heart failure.
The sounds heard in a patient with cardiac asthma are not features of asthma. During attacks, asthma chest sounds are just wheezing (a high-pitched whistling noise) when exhalation.
The following tests can be used to diagnose heart failure:
Physical exam
The doctor can look for other symptoms of cardiac asthma and heart failures, such as strange sounds in the lungs when breathing and irregular heart rate.