What is Negative Pressure Pulmonary Edema?
Ok, the other two answers are completely correct, but they are definitely in doctor-speak. Let me see if I can put this into normal people-speak. First, some definitions…Pulmonary edema simply means fluid in the air spaces of the lung. A lung is much like a sponge. There are millions of tiny little air pockets surrounded by lung tissue–the material of the ‘sponge’. The lung tissue contains cells and blood vessels and other types of tissue, but all those air pockets are just that–full of air. Anytime fluid gets into those pockets, it is a pathologic or disease state. Pulmonary edema–fluid in the air pockets of the lung–can be caused by many things. The most common and well-known is ‘cardiogenic pulmonary edema.’ This is when the heart fails and blood traveling thru the tissue of the lungs to the heart gets backed up because the heart is not pumping well. When this blood backs up, some of the fluid of the blood will ‘leak’ thru the lung tissue into the air pockets. It essentially g
