Pulmonary edema is not the same as pneumonia although they are similar.
Pulmonary edema is the excessive liquid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces which are usually the alveoli of the lungs that leads to impaired gas exchange and may even cause hypoxemia and respiratory failure.
Pneumonia also leads to fluid buildup in the tiny air sacs in your lungs, although pneumonia is caused by an infection with a virus, bacteria, or fungus.
Symptoms of pneumonia include chest pain, coughing, fatigue, a fever, shortness of breath, and stomach problems.
Pneumonia can sometimes cause pulmonary edema.
Pulmonary edema is a condition in which fluid builds up in the lungs, making it difficult to breathe.
Most often, the buildup of fluid is caused by a pressure imbalance within the heart, but other causes can also send excess fluid to the lungs.
Pulmonary edema is often caused by congestive heart failure.
When the heart is not able to pump efficiently, blood can back up into the veins that take blood through the lungs.
As the pressure in these blood vessels increases, fluid is pushed into the air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs.
The first treatment for acute pulmonary edema is oxygen.
Oxygen flows through a face mask or a flexible plastic tube with two openings (nasal cannula) that deliver oxygen to each nostril.
This should ease some symptoms.
Heart failure, a common cause of cardiogenic pulmonary edema, is a chronic disease that can get better with treatment.
Out of every three people who've been in the hospital because of heart failure, one person lives five or more years after their stay.
The four physiologic categories of edema include hydrostatic pressure edema, permeability edema with and without diffuse alveolar damage (DAD), and mixed edema where there is both an increase in hydrostatic pressure and membrane permeability.
The fluid stops the lung from fully expanding when you breathe.
So as it builds up, the collected fluid causes shortness of breath.
More than 1 million people are admitted each year with a diagnosis of pulmonary edema secondary to cardiac causes (heart failure).
An estimated 190,000 patients are diagnosed with acute lung injury each year.
About 1.5 to 3.5 cases/100,000 population are diagnosed with ARDS.
Fortunately, if diagnosed quickly, most cases of pulmonary edema are treatable.
A tailored pulmonary edema care plan, led by a team of clinical experts, ensures that each patient recovers as fully as possible.