[Life after death: lessons in lung injury physiopathology with necropsies on H1N1 infected patients].

The threat posed by the influenza A (H1N1) respiratory infections epidemic has triggered a worldwide response that has been felt in practically all aspects of respiratory medicine. The study of antiinflammatory treatments in lung injuries or of extracorporeal gas exchange techniques, tested during the epidemic, extends beyond the viral infection itself, with an impact upon the entire spectrum of acute lung injuries (ALIs). The knowledge generated is moreover common to multiple aspects of lung injury, not only to that referred to H1N1 virus infection. The present number of Medicina Intensiva publishes the special article of the SEMICYUC, offering an update on the management protocol for patients with severe H1N1 infection, and the January issue contains the study of Nin et al., documenting both the presence of viral antigens and the activity of different pathogenic mechanisms in lung tissue samples from patients who have died of H1N1 infection. The findings of this work illustrate not only different aspects of the viral infection, but also of acute lung injury. Regarding the contributions of the work of Nin et al. to our knowledge of influenza A (H1N1) infection,