ACCP Critical Care Board Review 2003 T acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and the related acute lung injury (ALI) syndromes are forms of Type I or acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). This form of lung dysfunction rises from diseases causing collapse and/or filling of alveoli with the result that a substantial fraction of mixed venous blood traverses nonventilated airspaces, effe...

OBJECTIVES Acute respiratory failure is associated with a mortality of 40% to 50%, despite advanced ventilator support and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. A respiratory gas exchange catheter (the Hattler Catheter) has been developed as an oxygenator and carbon dioxide removal device for placement in the vena cava and right atrium in the treatment of acute respiratory failure to improve sur...

It is generally accepted that there is little rebreathing of gas exhaled through the nose. A detailed physical model system has been used to quantify and identify the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon. By the use of a cast of the upper respiratory tract and oscillating flows with a Reynolds number of 500 and nondimensional frequency of 1.6, corresponding to quiet tidal breathing throug...

The respiratory system of birds is structurally and functionally very different from that of mammals and has therefore attracted a great deal of interest. Briefly, the avian respiratory system consists of paired lungs, where gas exchange with the blood occurs, and of several large air sacs (grouped as anterior and posterior sacs) that act as bellows to move gases over the exchange surfaces of t...

Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is used during non-invasive and invasive ventilation of newborns, infants and children. PEEP improves gas exchange by increasing the functional residual capacity, reducing respiratory effort, lowering requirements for respiratory mixture oxygen, and enabling a decrease in the peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) without decreasing the mean airway pressure. Its...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) often report poor sleep, increased daytime sleepiness, and fatigue. The purpose of this study was to identify respiratory patterns over the spectrum of disease severity in children with CF. The overall hypothesis for the current study is that children with CF compared with snoring control subjects demonstrate gas exchange abnormalitie...