The diagnosis and treatment of the acute pulmonary edema – up to date

Abstract

Acute pulmonary edema is an often encountered medical emergency characterized by sever shortness of breath, orthopnea and pulmonary overload caused by left ventricular failure. The specific pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies should be administered rapidly and their objective is to correct the hypoxemia and reduce the left ventricular afterload. Although the symptoms often regress quickly, the in-hospital and short-term mortality remain high. To improve the prognosis of these patients, long-term management is as important as the one in the acute setting, and includes the patient education, the correct and complete medical treatment of the subjacent heart disease and the prevention of risk factors.