[Mendelson's syndrome in coronary care units (author's transl)]

Abstract

By means of the case of a patient resuscitated after cardiac arrest attention is brought to the occurring of Mendelson's syndrome in coronary care units. Aspiration pneumonitis following inhalation of acid gastric contents is little known outside of anesthesia, but is likely to occur more frequent than its diagnosis is made. A considerable black number is to be expected, mostly because of the danger that the aspiration itself has not been registered and the pulmonary edema setting in after a latency of several hours is regarded as sequela of the underlying heart disease. But this misunderstanding can have deleterious effects, because therapy has to consider a hypovolemia caused by the fluid loss into the lungs. Therefore pathogenesis and therapy of the lung edema in Mendelson's syndrome are carefully delineated. In patients surviving the acute stage of the disease, further prognosis is favorable: late sequelae have so far not been observed.