Pulmonary Oedema - Medtick

Pulmonary Oedema

What is it?

Pulmonary oedema is a serious medical condition that happens:

  • When excess fluid begins to fill the lungs’ air sacs (the alveoli- where gas exchange takes place, it is here where next to the alveoli are blood capillaries, these capillaries carry oxygen we breath from the air into our blood and take carbon dioxide away from the capillaries into our lungs and is breathed out).
  • When the alveoli are filled with fluid, they cannot adequately add oxygen to the blood via capillaries (then to the heart and rest of the body) or remove carbon dioxide from the blood via capillaries (leaving too much carbon dioxide in the blood).
  • This condition can also be referred as Lung congestion, Lung water, and/or Pulmonary congestion.

Diagnosis Tests

A health care professional will perform a basic physical examination and listen to your lungs with a stethoscope he/she will look out for:

  • An increased heart rate
  • Rapid breathing
  • Crackling sound from your lungs
  • Any abnormal heart sounds

To treat this condition, all underlying causes must be examined and treated and hopefully this will reduce the pressure and fluid in the lungs, otherwise an oxygen ventilator may be considered to pump more oxygen into one’s lungs.

Cause

Heart condition 

  • Any heart condition leading to heart failure
  • Severe high blood pressure
  • Heart failure -(the left side of the heart  cannot pump blood around the body effectively and this causes the blood pressure to be applied back to the lungs, the blood vessels in the capillaries leak into the alveoli (where gas exchange takes place of oxygen and carbon dioxide) making that process less effective and thus causing symptoms.
  • Also this pressure causes too much blood (artery) pressure in the lungs and this then can affect the right hand side of the heart, because the right hand side of the heart needs to pump blood to the lungs to remove carbon dioxide. If the heart is pumping against  a resistance (in this case  high lung blood pressure), the heart has to work harder and this can damage the pump and muscles on the left hand side of the heart.

Non- heart conditions

(the cause is the same , fluid leaks from the blood capillaries into the alveoli)

Syndromes

Illicit drugs

Vitamins, herbals and minerals

Medication

  • Naloxone (helps in heroin and opioid overdose) when too much naloxone given causing ‘Naloxone Withdrawal Syndrome’.

Symptoms

  • Severe shortness of breath and/or breathing difficulties when being active?
  • Coughing (which often produces pink, frothy sputum)?
  • Wheezing?
  • Difficulty breathing when lying down?
  • Waking up at night with a breathless feeling that goes away when you sit up?
  • Rapid weight gain, especially in the legs?
  • Swelling in the lower part of the body?
  • Swollen ankles?
  • General discomfort (muscle weakness), uneasiness or ill feeling (malaise) and/or fatigue (tiredness)?

Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:

Medical Emergency Condition

Do not wait, phone for an ambulance


For this condition an oxygen ventilator maybe used to provide more oxygen to ones lungs. Complications include:

  • Pulmonary embolism– blood clots can form (in the vessels of your  arms and/or legs) especially when on a ventilator and one is doing no form of exercise. The blood clot can break off and travel to the lungs.
  • Collapsed lung (pneumothorax)-A breathing machine called a ventilator is used to increase oxygen in the body and force fluid out of the lungs. however, the pressure and air volume of the ventilator can force gas to go through a small hole in the very outside of a lung and cause that lung to collapse.
  • Infections –Because the ventilator is attached directly to a tube inserted in your windpipe, this makes it much easier for germs to infect and further injure your lungs.

MayoClinic


This condition may show similar symptoms to:

Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice

Detailed Information

Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Pulmonary Oedema in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).

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  • Medscape

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  • Pharmaceutical Journal

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  • Cleveland Clinic

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  • Verywell Health

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