Untreated OSA may cause acute cardiopulmonary failure: acute respiratory failure,
acute congestive heart failure, and sudden death (2) and is also associated with a panoply of chronic systemic disorders (3).
A clinical and biochemical critical pathway for the evaluation of patients with suspected
acute congestive heart failure: the ProBNP investigation of dyspnea in the emergency department (PRIDE) algorithm.
In Europe approximately one million patients are admitted to hospital with a primary diagnosis of
acute congestive heart failure each year.
At a meeting of the FDA's Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee, the expert panel agreed that nesiritide should be approved for treating
acute congestive heart failure (CHF), with adequate warnings about the possible risk of hypotension with the drug.