Classification

The New York Heart Association classify four grades of severity with respect to dyspnoea on exertion:

• normal
  
  
• moderate:
  • walking on the level causes dyspnoea
    
    
• severe:
  • unable to continue walking even slowly on the level
  • all but the lightest housework is impossible
    
    
• gross:
  • the slightest effort induces severe breathlessness
  • the patient is practically confined to bed