RESUMEN
in the period from Lanuary, 1983 to June, 1990, a total of 980 cases of cor pulmonale were hospitaluzed in this institute. Among the 980, 154 cases were complicated with multiple organ failure (MOF), and 114 cases out of the 154 died with a mortality rate of 74%. Besides the heart and the lungs, the organs involved were the brain, the liver, the gastrointestinal tract, the kidneys and the blood system. It was found that MOF more often occurred in elderly persons. The older the patient is, the more the organs will be involved and the higher the mortality rate will be. Infection especially that of gram negative bacilli was the main factor to induce MOF. The combined administration of penicillin and the antibiotics of cephalosporin group was quite helpful to control the infections, which is the key step in the management of such cases, when the antibiotics of aminoglycoside group were used, special attention must be paid to the prevention of their toxic effects on the kidneys High-frequency jet ventilation is not suitable to treat cor pulmonale complicated with MOF.