Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a disease of acute onset characterized by hypoxemia and infiltrates on chest radiographs that affects both adults and children of all ages. It is an important cause of respiratory failure in pediatric intensive care units and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, until recently, the definitions and diagnostic criteria for ac...

Collagen in lung tissue was examined from patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome, from patients who did not have this disease but required mechanical ventilation and oxygen treatment, and from patients without overt lung disease. Cyanogen bromide peptide mapping techniques were used to determine the ratio of type I to type III collagen present in these lungs. In the fibrotic lungs fr...

BACKGROUND Tumour necrosis factor alpha may contribute to the lung damage that occurs in the adult respiratory distress syndrome. Whether it occurs in the lungs of preterm infants with respiratory distress syndrome is unknown. METHODS Tumour necrosis factor alpha concentrations in the bronchopulmonary secretions of 28 ventilated preterm infants were determined by the enzyme linked immunosorbe...

OBJECTIVES To provide a current overview of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of acute respiratory distress syndrome in adults and children, and to identify research questions that will address the differences between adults and children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. DATA SOURCES Narrative literature review and author-generated data. DATA SELECTION The epidemiology of acute r...