title: Cardiogenic unilateral pulmonary edema: an unreported complication of a digestive endoscopic procedure.
abstract: Unilateral pulmonary edema is an uncommon clinical situation that may be difficult to distinguish from other conditions that cause lung infiltrates. Most cases occur in the right lung, and there are no reports about cardiogenic unilateral pulmonary edema as a complication of an endoscopic procedure of gastrointestinal tract. The authors describe a case of a 79-year-old woman with acute cardiac heart failure that developed soon after a diagnostic upper and lower digestive endoscopy. Continuous positive airway pressure, intravenous nitroglycerin, and furosemide treatment resulted in rapid improvement of symptoms and the progressive resolution of left-sided infiltrates on chest radiography. This case is of particular importance because of the rarity of cardiogenic unilateral edema in the left lung. This clinical finding was associated with the prolonged rest on the left side during the gastrointestinal endoscopic procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Favaloro Foundation University Hospital, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ebaldessari@gmail.com
authors.forename: Enrique M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Baldessari
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendez-Villarroel
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mauriño
authors.forename: Fabio D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Nachman
authors.forename: Ignacio A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Veltri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors