Tehran University of Medical Sciences Frontiers in Emergency Medicine 2717-3593 7 4 2023 11 28 e40 e40 Bojan Miletic Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Luzerner KantonsspitalWolhusen, Switzerland Anna Röschel Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Luzerner KantonsspitalWolhusen, Switzerland Zeljko Jovanovic Faculty of Health studies, University of Rijeka, Croatia Udo Courteney Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Luzerner KantonsspitalWolhusen, Switzerland 2023 08 04 2023 11 03 Acute dyspnea, sometimes dramatic, is most often caused by cardiovascular or respiratory disease. However, although rare, thyroid dysfunction may present a similar clinical picture with equally serious and life-threatening consequences. Therefore, every occurrence of acute dyspnea represents a special medical challenge in diagnosis and treatment. We present a case of 81-year-old male admitted to the rehabilitation department five days after a knee joint total endoprosthesis and developed acute dyspnea two days later. An emergency diagnostic was performed and confirmed an airway stenosis through a previously undiagnosed enlarged thyroid gland. Although in most cases an acute life-threatening postoperative dyspnea indicates a cardiac or pulmonary problem, other diseases must be taken into consideration. https://fem.tums.ac.ir/index.php/fem/article/view/1258 https://fem.tums.ac.ir/index.php/fem/article/download/1258/460