A case of acute respiratory failure in a young man

Abstract

A 40 years old man presents with a few hours history of progressive dyspnea. He was suffering from almost a week of low grade fever. The night before the onset of dyspnea he had high fever (39,5°C), polyuria and dysuria. His blood pressure is 115/65 mmHg and his oxygen saturation while breathing ambient air is 81%. Chest auscultation reveals rales bilaterally. A chest radiography shows bilateral pulmonary infiltrates consistent with pulmonary edema. How should this patient be evaluated to establish the cause of the acute pulmonary edema and to determine appropriate therapy?