Mask ventilation and cardiogenic pulmonary edema: “Another brick in the wall”

Abstract

Current guidelines for the treatment of acute (ACPE) cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE) do not include the use of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) [1, 2, 3] as a primary treatment. Nevertheless, both continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and pressure support ventilation (nPSV) delivered by mask are commonly employed for the treatment of ACPE [4, 5] because NIV rapidly improves vital signs and reduces the need for endotracheal intubation compared to standard medical therapy [5, 6].