Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasound in Adults: Image Acquisition
Published on: March 3, 2023
Unilateral pulmonary edema: a rare presentation of congestive heart failure
Orna Nitzan1, Walid R Saliba, Lee H Goldstein
1Department of Medicine C, Ha-Emeq Medical Center, and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Afula, Israel.
Abstract:
The authors present a case of an 85-year-old woman known to suffer from severe congestive heart failure who presented with dyspnea and a unilateral infiltrate in the right lung on chest x-ray. Following clinical judgment, she was diagnosed with unilateral pulmonary edema and was treated accordingly, with rapid improvement of symptoms and disappearance of the infiltrate within 12 hours. The patient had been hospitalized many times during the previous years with pulmonary edema affecting both lung fields. Unilateral pulmonary edema is an unusual clinical condition that has been reported as a manifestation of left heart failure, mostly affecting the right lung. The authors emphasize the possible presentation of unilateral pulmonary edema in a patient with heart failure and recurrent bilateral pulmonary edema.
Related Concept Videos
Pulmonary Edema II: Pathophysiology
Heart Failure III: Clinical Manifestations
Mitral Regurgitation I: Introduction
Pulmonary Embolism I: Introduction
Pulmonary Embolism I: Introduction
Imbalances in Cardiac Output
CHF can occur due to the failure of either side of the heart. Left-side failure leads to pulmonary congestion—the right side continues to send blood...
