Symptoms of pulmonary edema may include: Coughing up blood or bloody froth. Difficulty breathing when lying down (orthopnea) Feeling of "air hunger" or "drowning" (This feeling is called "paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea" if it causes you to wake up 1 to 2 hours after falling asleep and struggle to catch your breath.)
Fluid buildup in your lungs can lead to shortness of breath, coughing up of foam and loose mucus, wheezing, chest tightness and difficulty breathing. Pulmonary edema can be life-threatening and requires immediate medical treatment.
For large pleural effusions, or for those with an unknown cause, the fluid will need to be drained through a procedure called thoracentesis. This involves inserting a needle in the space between the lung and the chest wall and draining the liquid.
About pneumonia
Pneumonia is swelling (inflammation) of the tissue in one or both lungs. It's usually caused by a bacterial infection. At the end of the breathing tubes in your lungs are clusters of tiny air sacs. If you have pneumonia, these tiny sacs become inflamed and fill up with fluid.
Discomfort when breathing while lying down. Chest pain, usually behind the breastbone or on the left side of the chest. Chest fullness. Lightheadedness or feeling faint.
People who experience pulmonary edema may struggle to breathe; the feeling has been described as being like drowning or suffocating. Some people cough up a thick, pink, frothy liquid while struggling for air. Pulmonary edema can be a life-threatening condition. Immediate medical attention is essential.
Fine crackles usually start at the base of the lungs where there is fluid in the lungs. As the fluid fills the lungs more, fine crackles can be heard closer and closer to the top of the lungs. Coarse crackles sound like coarse, rattling, crackling sounds that are louder, longer, and lower in pitch than fine crackles.
Left untreated, pleural effusion can have serious medical complications. These include a partially collapsed lung, infections, bleeding, and pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs).
Claudication refers to muscle pain due to lack of oxygen that's triggered by activity and relieved by rest. Symptoms include the following: Pain, ache, discomfort or fatigue in muscles every time those muscles are used. Pain in the calves, thighs, buttocks, hips or feet.
A person may have dyspnea even though the actual levels of oxygen are within a normal range. It is important to understand that people do not suffocate or die from dyspnea. But tell your health care team right away if you have any of these symptoms or if they get worse.
Shortness of breath does not equal saturation (SaO2%)
In other words, your level of dyspnea, or air hunger, does not always correlate with your oxygen saturation. This means that you can be short of breath, even extremely short of breath, even in the presence of normal oxygen saturation.
As the lungs become congested, due to CHF, excess fluid can start to leak into the air sacs (alveoli). Coughing is the body's natural response to this airway blockage, cuing you to clear the bronchial passages in attempt to relieve the congestion.
Outlook / Prognosis
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.
Crackles are short explosive breath sounds, usually associated with pulmonary disorders and heart failure.
Medical imaging is an effective way to determine whether someone has fluid around the heart. When a doctor suspects that a person has this condition, researchers recommend that they use an echocardiogram as their first diagnostic tool. This test can also show doctors the amount and location of the fluid.
The chest x-ray can show if you have fluid buildup in the lungs or if your heart has become enlarged. In heart failure diagnosis, the chest x-ray is one of the first tests performed to determine the cause of your heart failure symptoms.
Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs that may be caused by bacteria, viruses, or fungi. The infection causes the lungs' air sacs (alveoli) to become inflamed and fill up with fluid or pus.
If shortness of breath happens when you're clearly not exerting yourself, when you're doing something you normally could do without feeling winded, or comes on suddenly, those are warning signs that a heart issue could potentially be to blame.