BACKGROUND Several biological markers of lung injury are predictors of morbidity and mortality in patients with acute lung injury (ALI). The low tidal volume lung-protective ventilation strategy is associated with a significant decrease in plasma biomarker levels compared to the high tidal volume ventilation strategy. The primary objective of this study was to test whether the institution of lu...

OBJECTIVE As the most common cause of cancer mortality throughout the world, lung cancer has drawn people's attention on how to reduce the risk with chemopreventive ways. Many epidemiological studies have shown inconsistent effects of statins on lung cancer, but some observational studies have showed that statins had protective effect on lung cancer among elderly people. So we preformed this me...

Acute lung injury (ALI), a serious respiratory distress has been associated with considerable human morbidity and mortality. Taurine, a physiological semi-essential amino acid has been shown to be tissue-protective in several models of oxidant-induced injury. Therefore, the current study was designed to explore protective effects of the taurine in ALI mice models. The possible tissue protective...

INTRODUCTION Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with concomitant impairment of oxygenation and decarboxylation represents a complex problem in patients with increased intracranial pressure (ICP). Permissive hypercapnia is not an option to obtain and maintain lung-protective ventilation in the presence of elevated ICP. Pumpless extracorporeal lung assist (pECLA) devices (iLA Membrane Ven...

BACKGROUND Acute lung injury (ALI) is a major cause of acute respiratory failure with high mortality despite lung-protective ventilation. Prior work has shown disordered inflammation and coagulation in ALI, with strong correlations between biomarker abnormalities and worse clinical outcomes. We measured plasma markers of inflammation, coagulation and fibrinolysis simultaneously to assess whethe...

BACKGROUND Patient-ventilator asynchrony is a common problem in mechanically ventilated patients with acute respiratory failure. It is assumed that asynchronies worsen lung function and prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV). Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA) is a novel approach to MV based on neural respiratory center output that is able to trigger, cycle, and regulate t...

Protective mechanical ventilation is currently accepted as a key strategy for the management of acute lung injury (ALI) and its most severe form, acute respiratory distress syndrome. The study by de Prost and colleagues in the current issue of Critical Care provides new insights into the impact of ventilation strategies on pulmonary function, gas exchange, and regional cellular metabolic activi...

The occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications is strongly associated with increased hospital mortality and prolonged postoperative hospital stays. Although protective lung ventilation is commonly used in the intensive care unit, low tidal volume ventilation in the operating room is not a routine strategy. Low tidal volume ventilation, moderate positive end-expiratory pressure, and rep...