Definitions of acute heart failure syndromes

Abstract

Acute heart failure is likely one of the oldest described diseases. However, although clinical signs, such as paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea and crackles, are known by any physician, the epidemiology of acute heart failure was only recently assessed (1). In most textbooks of cardiology or intensive care in the last 40 years, acute heart failure is considered a mixture including acute pulmonary edema following an increased arterial blood pressure and a cardiogenic shock related to acute myocardial infarction. © 2008 Springer-Verlag London.