Respiratory Management of Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema: A Review

Acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) is a common and life-threatening condition among patients with heart failure. The literature contains a large number of reviews discussing the respiratory management aspect of this entity; nonetheless, none of these studies has thoroughly probed into the respiratory management of different cardiac pathologies ending with ACPE, together with the different modes of ventilation and invasive and noninvasive ventilation in the same discussion. The present review seeks to discuss the physiologic bases of lung-heart interactions, the hemodynamic effects of positive pressure ventilation, and the results of studies on the effects of the various modes of ventilation having been used until the writing of this article. Also discussed herein are ACPE in different heart pathologies and their respective ventilator management, as well as the indications, complications, and contraindications of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation and intermittent mandatory ventilation.