[1] The term is sometimes inaccurately used to refer to labored, gasping breathing patterns accompanying organ failure, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, septic shock, and metabolic acidosis.

[1][6][5] In an unresponsive, pulseless patient in cardiac arrest, agonal respirations are not effective breaths and are signs of cardiovascular and respiratory system failure.

[10] Preserving brainstem activity with agonal breathing correlates with better neurological outcomes for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

[5] Throughout the dying process, patients will lose the ability to tolerate their secretions, resulting in a sound often disturbing and emotionally distressing to visitors termed the death rattle.

[2] However, the death rattle is a separate phenomenon from agonal respirations specifically related to the patient's inability to tolerate their secretions.

[12] A pattern of breathing during non-REM sleep is closely associated with left heart failure and characterized by intermittent periods of apnea and gradual increase and subsequent decrease in respiratory effort.

[15][16] Named after French physician Camille Biot, the breathing style differs from Cheyne Stokes in that the typical crescendo-decrescendo pattern is absent.