Comparison of angiographic findings and demographic variables in patients with coronary artery disease presenting with acute pulmonary edema versus those presenting with chest pain.

One hundred nineteen patients admitted to the coronary care unit with pulmonary edema were retrospectively reviewed to identify the demographic characteristics and underlying cardiac disorders of this population. The patients with pulmonary edema were compared with 119 patients admitted to the coronary care unit with chest pain. Cardiac catheterization in 71 patients with pulmonary edema and 93 with chest pain showed left main and 3-vessel coronary artery diseases to be equally common in both groups, although anginal pain was infrequent in patients with pulmonary edema (n = 28, 24%). Left ventricular function was reduced in the patients with pulmonary edema compared with those with chest pain (mean ejection fraction 42 vs 59%; p less than 0.001). More patients with pulmonary edema were black, and had diabetes and preexisting hypertension than those with chest pain. The results of cardiac catheterization were the same for black and white patients with pulmonary edema. In conclusion, patients with pulmonary edema have a high incidence of cardiac disease, and pulmonary edema may be 1 manifestation of silent myocardial ischemia. Important demographic differences exist between patients admitted with pulmonary edema and those who present with chest pain.