Which description best defines Cheyne-Stokes respirations?

• A. Cycles of deep and shallow breathing with periods of apnea
• B. Continuous rapid breathing
• C. Slow shallow breathing
• D. Irregular, gasping breaths

Answer: (A)

Cheyne-Stokes respirations are a pattern where breathing waxes and wanes in a cycle, with breaths that become deeper and faster, then shallower and slower, and followed by a period of apnea. This cyclical rise and fall, plus the pauses between phases, is the hallmark description. It often occurs in conditions such as advanced heart failure, neurological injury, or near-death states, reflecting a disrupted respiratory drive and heart-brain timing.

Seeing cycles of deep and shallow breathing with pauses best matches the description. By contrast, continuous rapid breathing describes tachypnea, slow shallow breathing describes hypoventilation, and irregular, gasping breaths describe agonal respiration.