Symptoms of Restrictive Lung Disease
The predominating symptom in RLD patients is dyspnea. Patients may report to suffer from breathing difficulties while under exercise, but as the underlying disease progresses, dyspnea may also be present at rest. Cyanosis and palpitations may also be noted. It is not uncommon to hear that RLD patients suffer from sleep disorders since low oxygen saturation does not allow for a restful sleep.

Additional symptoms depend on the underlying disease.

Intrinsic pulmonary disorders may manifest in form of non-productive cough, wheezing and chest pain. If pulmonary capillaries are compromised, hemoptysis may be observed. None of these signs should be considered an exclusion criterion.

Neuromuscular disorders are rarely restricted to the respiratory tract. Further neurologic deficits and/or more generalized muscle weakness are usually present.

Similarly, thoracic malformations are usually associated with other disabilities. Here, clinical presentation ranges from posture changes to complex skeletal pathologies. Neither kyphosis nor scoliosis are necessarily observable in physical examination, but mild deviations of the vertebral spine are generally not related with manifest RLD.