[The treatment of acute cardiac insufficiency: toward a physiopathological approach].

The development of new inotropic or vasodilator agents, with different spectra of action makes possible a physiological approach to the treatment of acute cardiac failure. The choice depends on the functional disturbances measured and is then adapted to the response obtained. In the most serious cases, where pharmacological treatment proves insufficient, there need be no hesitation in using invasive methods which were formerly reserved for the treatment of cardiogenic shock. Systematic application of therapeutic formulae gives way to rational selection of the agent best adapted to the particular conditions brought about by a specified cardiopathy in a given patient.