10th January 2014
GCSE Biology: Pulmonary Edema
Symptoms
The main symptoms of pulmonary edema are:
· Difficulty breathing
· Coughing up blood (seen as pink, frothy sputum)
· Excessive sweating
· Anxiety
· Pale skin
· End-inspiratory crackles (sounds heard at the end of a deep breath)
· A third heart sound
· Orthopnea (inability to lie down flat due to breathlessness)
· Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (episodes of severe sudden breathlessness at night)
Causes
Pulmonary edema is the build-up of fluid within air spaces (alveoli) of the lungs. Normally it is cardiogenic but fluid may also accumulate due to damage to the lung. This damage may be caused by direct injury or injury caused by high pressures within the pulmonary circulation. The causes of pulmonary edema are split up into two categories: cardiogenic and non-cardiogenic.
Cardiogenic:
· Left ventricular failure can be caused by a heart attack leading to arrhythmias (either a fast heartbeat or a slow heartbeat) and fluid overload (from kidney failure).
Non-cardiogenic:
· Hypertensive crisis (increased pressures in the right ventricle leading to the leakage of fluid and edema.
· Upper airway obstruction
· Other causes (seizures, head trauma, strangulation, electrocution).
Treatments
Focus is initially on maintaining adequate oxygenation. The patient is given high-flow oxygen, noninvasive ventilation or mechanical ventilation in very severe cases.
When circulatory causes have led to pulmonary edema, treatment with intravenous nitrates and loop diuretics is the most common form of therapy.
In treating pulmonary edema one cannot be certain that the treatments will be successful and treatments are very expensive, especially over a long period of time.
The main symptoms of pulmonary edema are:
· Difficulty breathing
· Coughing up blood (seen as pink, frothy sputum)
· Excessive sweating
· Anxiety
· Pale skin
· End-inspiratory crackles (sounds heard at the end of a deep breath)
· A third heart sound
· Orthopnea (inability to lie down flat due to breathlessness)
· Paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea (episodes of severe sudden breathlessness at night)
Causes
Pulmonary edema is the build-up of fluid within air spaces (alveoli) of the lungs. Normally it is cardiogenic but fluid may also accumulate due to damage to the lung. This damage may be caused by direct injury or injury caused by high pressures within the pulmonary circulation. The causes of pulmonary edema are split up into two categories: cardiogenic and non-cardiogenic.
Cardiogenic:
· Left ventricular failure can be caused by a heart attack leading to arrhythmias (either a fast heartbeat or a slow heartbeat) and fluid overload (from kidney failure).
Non-cardiogenic:
· Hypertensive crisis (increased pressures in the right ventricle leading to the leakage of fluid and edema.
· Upper airway obstruction
· Other causes (seizures, head trauma, strangulation, electrocution).
Treatments
Focus is initially on maintaining adequate oxygenation. The patient is given high-flow oxygen, noninvasive ventilation or mechanical ventilation in very severe cases.
When circulatory causes have led to pulmonary edema, treatment with intravenous nitrates and loop diuretics is the most common form of therapy.
In treating pulmonary edema one cannot be certain that the treatments will be successful and treatments are very expensive, especially over a long period of time.
Share this:
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...