Med Klin
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A retrospective determination of survival time over a total control phase of eight years was done in 53 patients who had been admitted to an internal intensive care unit in 1970 because of cardial pulmonary edema. The hospital survival rate amounted to 55%. 27% of the patients were still alive six months after discharge; after a year there were only 20%. Three of the 53 patients reached the 8th control year. ⋯ In contrast, the pulmonary edema in consequence of a cor hypertonicum had a fairly good prognosis, because the 50% survival rate amounted to four years in this group (n = 21). All attempts to quantify the life prognosis in cases of pulmonary edema possess only speculative significance for the interests of the individual case. Nevertheless, they are indispensable for the correct choice of therapeutic procedure in medical borderline situations.