How is pulmonary edema diagnosed?
Pulmonary edema is usually caused by heart failure. As the heart fails, pressure in the veins going through the lungs starts to rise. As the pressure in these blood vessels increases, fluid is pushed into the air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs. This fluid interrupts normal oxygen movement through the lungs, resulting in shortness of breath. Pulmonary edema may be caused by damage directly to the lung, such as that caused by poisonous gas or severe infection, as a side effect of medications, or the result of major trauma. Lung damage with a buildup of body fluid is also seen in kidney failure. Exercising at very high altitudes can also cause pulmonary edema.
Symptoms:
• Anxiety
• Cough
• Difficulty breathing
• Excessive sweating
• Feeling of "air hunger" or "drowning" (if this occurs suddenly, awakening you from sleep and causing you to sit up and catch your breath, it’s called "paroxysmal noctural dyspnea")
• Grunting or gurgling sounds with breathing
• Pale skin
• Restlessness
• Shortness of breath
• Shortness of breath when lying down (orthopnea) — you may need to sleep with your head propped up or use extra pillows
• Wheezing
Additional symptoms that may be associated with this condition:
• Coughing up blood or bloody froth
• Decrease in level of alertness (consciousness)
• Inability to speak in full sentences
• Nasal flaring
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Pulmonary edema is typically diagnosed by a chest X-ray. A normal chest radiograph (X-ray) consists of a central white area pertaining to the heart and its main blood vessels plus the bones of the vertebral column, with the lung fields showing as darker fields on either side, enclosed by the bony structures of the chest wall. A typical chest X-ray with pulmonary edema may show a more white appearance over both lung fields than usual. More severe cases of pulmonary edema can demonstrate significant opacification (whitening) over the lungs with minimal visualization of the normal lung fields. This whitening represents filling of the alveoli as a result of pulmonary edema, but it may give minimal information about the possible underlying cause. To identify the cause of pulmonary edema, a thorough assessment of the patient’s clinical picture is essential. A careful medical history and physical examination often provide invaluable information regarding the cause. Other diagnostics tools use
