OBJECTIVE Studies describing predictors of mortality in patients with acute lung injury were primarily derived from selected academic centers. We sought to determine the predictors of mortality in a population-based cohort of patients with acute lung injury and to characterize the performance of current severity of illness scores in this population. DESIGN Secondary analysis of a prospective,...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the development of acute lung injury outside the intensive care unit. We set out to document the following: the association between predefined clinical conditions and the development of acute lung injury by using the American-European consensus definition; the frequency of lung injury development outside the intensive care unit; and the temporal relationship bet...

OBJECTIVES Hypertonic saline has been proposed to modulate the inflammatory cascade in certain experimental conditions, including pulmonary inflammation caused by inhaled gastric contents. The present study aimed to assess the potential anti-inflammatory effects of administering a single intravenous dose of 7.5% hypertonic saline in an experimental model of acute lung injury induced by hydrochl...

OBJECTIVES Fibroblast migration is an initiating step in fibroproliferation; its involvement during acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome remains poorly understood. The aims of this study were: 1) to determine whether bronchoalveolar lavage fluids from patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome modulate lung fibroblast migration; 2) to assess lung fi...

ACUTE LUNG INJURY IS A MAJOR cause of acute respiratory failure in patients who are critically ill and is associated with several clinical disorders, including sepsis, pneumonia, and aspiration. Although lifesaving, traditional ventilation strategies with higher tidal volumes and airway pressures can exacerbate lung inflammation and injury. Acute lung injury produces parenchymal lung damage tha...

RATIONALE Repair of damaged endothelium is important in recovery from acute lung injury. In animal models, bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells differentiate into mature endothelium and assist in repairing damaged vasculature. OBJECTIVES The quantity of endothelial progenitor cells in patients with acute lung injury is unknown. We hypothesize that increased numbers of circulating ...

Acute lung injury (ALI) is an important cause of mortality in critically ill patients. Acute pancreatitis (AP) is one of the risk factors for developing this syndrome. Among the inflammatory cells, macrophages have a key role in determining the severity of the acute lung injury. In the lungs, macrophages constitute a heterogeneous cell population distributed in different compartments. Changes i...