Acute Respiratory Distress Sundrome (ARDS): Pathogenesis and Treatment Modalities

摘要

Although the name acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was not established until 1967, ARDS is a condition which has been documented and, to some extent described prior to the l9OO's. Over the last century ARDS has been characterized by several names which include: shock lung, wet lung, DaNang lung, fat embolism, congestive atelectasis, oxygen toxicity, stiff lung syndrome, white lung syndrome, and pump lung, to mention a few. A study conducted by Ashbaugh and colleagues in 1967 described the hospital course of 12 patients, including an 11-year-old child, with an acute onset of the respiratory-distress syndrome. The syndrome was discernable by its symptoms of tachypnea, hypoxemia, cyanosis, decreased lung compliance, and diffuse infiltrates on chest radiograph. The 12 patients enrolled in the study were noted as being refractory to oxygen therapy and did not respond to the usual management of respiratory failure.