Management of acute respiratory failure due to pulmonary edema with nasal positive pressure support.

The management of patients with respiratory failure from cardiogenic pulmonary edema may require intubation and mechanical ventilation. This provides both ventilatory assistance as well as the beneficial hemodynamic effects of positive intrathoracic pressure. As the need for ventilation is usually short term, noninvasive ventilatory support may be adequate. We report the use of biphasic positive airway pressure by nasal mask (BiPAP system) to successfully manage two patients with respiratory failure due to pulmonary edema.