My ENT physician is trying to diagnose whether or not I have a hiatal hernia or not.  I will be getting a bronchoscopy (awake) by a pulmonologist soon.  The ENT doc suggested perhaps a trauma could have caused my shortness of breath (presenting symptom).  My question is this?  Could 2 severe hits to the chest 30 years ago cause delayed symptoms now?  The only other trauma I can think of would be moving things that are too heavy, which I did about 6 months ago. Actually, just remember a fractured rib 10 years ago too.  But again, this not recent.  Thank you in advance for your attention to my question.Angela
Hi Angela ! Good afternoon. I am Chat Doctor answering your query. So far the old trauma to the chest are concerned, they might have caused some weakness in the diaphragmatic muscle along with its openings, and could cause a hiatal hernia at a later date. But this could be diagnosed by an upper GI endoscopy by a gastroenterologist and not by a bronchoscopy which might have been advised to you for some other symptoms of your related to respiratory system. You did not narrate anything about your present symptoms, and so it would not be possible to arrive at a diagnosis at present. I hope this information would help you in discussing with your family physician/treating doctor in further management of your problem. Please do not hesitate to ask in case of any further doubts. Thanks for choosing Chat Doctor to clear doubts on your health problems. I wish you an early recovery. Chat Doctor.