The measurement of respiratory acoustic impedance (Zrs) by forced pseudorandom noise provides a simple means of assessing respiratory mechanics in nonintubated intensive care patients. To characterize the lung mechanical alterations induced by acute vascular congestion of the lung, Zrs was measured in 14 spontaneously breathing patients hospitalized for acute left ventricular failure. The Zrs data in the cardiac patients were compared with those of 48 semirecumbent normal subjects and those of 23 sitting asthmatic patients during allergen-induced bronchospasm. In the patients with acute left ventricular failure, the Zrs abnormalities noted were an excessive frequency dependence of resistance from 10 to 20 Hz and an abnormally low reactance at all frequencies, abnormalities qualitatively similar to those observed in the asthmatic patients but of lesser magnitude. Acute lung vascular congestion modifies the acoustic impedance of the respiratory system. Reflex-induced bronchospasm might be the main mechanism altering respiratory acoustic impedance in acute left ventricular failure.