Current Opinion in Critical Care 2008, 14:11–15 Purpose of review The mechanisms of epithelial injury in acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome have been of interest since the syndrome was first described. Cell therapies to replace injured epithelium are a futuristic dream; however, there is ongoing research to achieve this goal. We review research regarding the function of the e...

Acute respiratory failure is a life-threatening complication in cancer patients. During neutropenia, patients are at high risk for bacterial pneumonia or invasive fungal infections, when neutropenia is prolonged. A high proportion of patients in whom neutropenia had been complicated by pneumonia will present with substantial respiratory deterioration during neutropenia recovery. Patients with f...