pulmonary edema?

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What is that?
And what are the syptoms??
Thanks!
Pulmonary Edema is caused by what is known as heart failure. It is a little misleading however, the heart is not truly failing, it just isnt working as well as it should be. The heart has 4 main chambers upper 2 are called ventricles and lower 2 are called atriums. The left ventricle is the work horse of the heart. It's what pumps the blood through our entire body. If this left ventricle starts to decrease its output blood actually starts to "pool". This pooling happens not only in the lower extremities due to the effects of gravity but also in the lungs, where blood goes to receive oxygen before it is pumped through our body again by the left ventricle. This pooling causes people to experience difficulty in breathing, pale skin coloring, and maybe even coughing up blood. The treatment is traditionally a diuretic which removes excess fluid through the kidneys. If symptoms get bad enough a person may need to be put on what is called "assistive ventilations". With this air is actually forced into the lungs with each breath to help force the excess fluid out of the lungs... Hope this helps...  (+ info)

What are the clinical findings of a person that has pulmonary edema?

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I know what it is....PLEASE don't cut and paste long article. Please. just wondering if anyone knows some of the things you would look for. someone could develop pulmonary edema pretty fast, huh? you would hear crackles/rales and hear a lub-dub-dub (3 sounds) heart beat. am i right? what r some of the other things you might find-if they were developing it fast?
or if you suspected it? what would make u suspect it?
Shortness of breath. , Drop in 02 sats.
Some patients become disoriented from the lack of oxygen,, combative if you can believe it.
Your would hear rales (crackles) in ALL lung fields.
A gurgling sound at the back of the throat.
Decreased 02 sats. nails beds would take on a blue to purple tint,
extremities become mottled. Progresses to pink frothy secretions from the mouth and sometimes the nose. Confirmed on a CXR ( but lets face it any healthcare professional will know without it)

Immediate administration of lasix, foley catheter to monitor output.
Intubation is seriously considered at this point.  (+ info)

Why doesn't the body immediately fail during pulmonary edema?

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How is it possible for the body to sustain itself while displaying edema (either pulmonary or dependent) without suffering immediate shock, ischemia, or any of the other consequences that come to mind when thinking about a failing circulation of blood?
"Chronicity"?: But what about cases of AMI/CHF that involve pulmonary edema? Isn't this a sudden onset in which the body doesn't necessarilly go into cardiogenic shock?
If any insult to the body develops slowly --over weeks, months or longer, the body adapts to accommodate the changes. In the case of pulmonary edema, the left sided chambers of the heart then the pulmonary vessels dilate, or widen, to allow for the excess fluid to accumulate with spilling into the lung tissue itself. Once they have dilated to max, changes begin to occur on the right side of the heart and in the rest of the venous blood system.
The key to the body not going into shock is the chronicity of the problem--given time the body will try to adapt until it no longer is able.
Begin edit:
In the acute setting, if the pateint does not have an underlying chronic component of heart failure and/or pulmonary hypertension, there is a much shorter time frame for the body to compensate--therefore the person does go into shock & cannot effective exchange gases in the lungs.  (+ info)

What is the best treatment for pulmonary edema if the person has renal failure?

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The person is currently treating it through hemodialysis. Is there any other way to manage it?
Depending on how bad the renal failure is (how high the creatinine runs), small doses of lasix or other diuretics can be given to rid the body of excess fluid.
The dialysis is to treat the kidney failure. It's a tough balancing act for the doctors., and it sounds like "end stage renal disease", which will ultimately (a month, a year, 10 years) likely be the cause of the patients death.  (+ info)

Would pulmonary edema cause an increase in surfactant?

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As title suggests, would pulmonary edema cause an increase in surfactant?

If pulmonary edema is the accumulation of fluid in the alveoli, and surfactant's function is to act like a 'detergent' by reducing the surface tension of alveoli by keeping water molecules from cohering to one another.....wouldn't surfactant production increase due to the accumulation of the excess fluid?

My reasoning says yes, but I could be wrong.
Because type II alveolar cells are responsible for the production of surfactants in the lungs, then yes, pulmonary edema could increase the amount of the surfactant secreted by the type II alveolar cells and therefore increase the concentration of the surfactant present. However in some cases it could be quite the opposite in a sense. You have to take into account the dilution factor that could come about. Depending on the cause of the pulmonary edema, it could result in the excess fluid consisting of a matrix that would actually dilute the amount of surfactants that were secreted, thus reducing their efficacy in function. You can consider basic surfactant chemistry from an industrial standpoint when addressing this question. For example Barlox 12 (an amine surfactant which is used in many cleaners and detergents) would be greatly diluted if excess fluid was added to it, as the ratio between the Barlox 12 amine and the matrix would change dramatically in favor of the diluent/matrix. In this event, you would see a decrease in the efficacy of the Barlox 12 to reduce surface tension, thus causing a decrease in the cleaning capabilities of the amine.  (+ info)

How long can a person li having been diagnosed with pulmonary edema?

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this person was a smoker up until 6 months ago and is the age of 66 and a female.
Pulmonary edema literally means swelling or liquid in the lungs. If not treated aggressively it is fatal. It is more a symptom than a disease entity and is usually a result of heart failure rather than lung problems. It can be chronic but is usually something that happens intermittently and people can live for years with it if it is managed well. Treatment involves diuretics, or drugs to help the body rid excess fluid, and meds to improve the pumping capacity/efficiency of the heart.  (+ info)

What the difference between a pulmonary edema and a pulmonary embolism?

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  (+ info)

Whats the difference between pneumonia and pulmonary edema?

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There's a big difference.

Pneumonia is an infection in the lungs.

Pulmonary edema is fluid filling the lungs.  (+ info)

How does bacteria cause a pulmonary edema?

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Plain and simple please.
The bacteria don't cause the PE directly. They initiate your immune system reaction, which causes the pulmonary edema via cytokines.  (+ info)

My husband has Pulmonary Edema and we want to have a baby. If we concieve, will the baby be effected?

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Im just a little affraid that the baby might be unhealthy when born. Can anyone help?
It depends on why he has pulmonary edema.

If it's some kind of hereditary issue that can be passed on through genes, then the baby might be at risk for lung disease.

But if he has pulmonary edema from, say, congestive heart failure because of smoking or other preventable factors, then the baby wouldn't have that problem.

If your husband has a preventable disease, then the baby should be fine. But if your husband was born with a congenital predisposition toward lung disease or some kind of condition that gives him pulmonary edema, then the baby should be monitored carefully for lung issues (but it's no guarantee that the baby will actually develop a disease.)

  (+ info)

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