Happy hypoxemia is an unspecified definition that is used in COVID-19 patients to define hypoxemia without dyspnoea. Dyspnoea is a very complex symptom, and although hypoxemia can cause breathlessness, dyspnoea is not related to hypoxemia, but is more closely related to inspiratory drive and mechanical alterations. The lack of dyspnoea in the early stages of the disease is likely related to the absence of increased inspiratory drive due to compensatory mechanisms of hypoxemia, while in the advanced stages there is no evidence of a lack of dyspnoea in COVID-19 patients.
Happy hypoxemia, or blunted ventilation?