Flash pulmonary edema
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Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, flash pulmonary edema (FPE), is rapid onset pulmonary edema
Pulmonary edema
Pulmonary edema , or oedema , is fluid accumulation in the air spaces and parenchyma of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause respiratory failure...

. It is most often precipitated by acute myocardial infarction or mitral regurgitation
Mitral regurgitation
Mitral regurgitation , mitral insufficiency or mitral incompetence is a disorder of the heart in which the mitral valve does not close properly when the heart pumps out blood. It is the abnormal leaking of blood from the left ventricle, through the mitral valve, and into the left atrium, when...

, but can be caused by aortic regurgitation, heart failure, or almost any cause of elevated left ventricular filling pressures. Treatment of FPE should be directed at the underlying cause, but the mainstays are ensuring adequate oxygenation, diuresis
Diuresis
Diuresis may refer to:* Urine production, as an aspect of fluid balance* Excessive urine production - see polyuria* Immersion diuresis...

, and decrease of pulmonary circulation pressures.

Recurrence of FPE is thought to be associated with hypertension
Hypertension
Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...

 and may signify renal artery stenosis
Renal artery stenosis
Renal artery stenosis is the narrowing of the renal artery, most often caused by atherosclerosis or fibromuscular dysplasia. This narrowing of the renal artery can impede blood flow to the target kidney...

. Prevention of recurrence is based on managing hypertension, coronary artery disease, renovascular hypertension, and heart failure.

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