Clinics in chest medicine
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Clinics in chest medicine · Dec 1990
ReviewVentilatory strategies in the management of the adult respiratory distress syndrome.
This article review available strategies for mechanically ventilating patients with the adult respiratory distress syndrome. The authors first present the conventional strategies of mechanical ventilation: volume-limited mechanical ventilation with positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) at normal inspiratory-expiratory ratios, the approach that has been the mainstay of ventilatory support since the initial description of PEEP. This discussion attempts to summarize the rationale and goals of treatment in a practical, clinically useful manner. The second section of the article reviews less conventional ventilatory approaches, including inverse ratio ventilation, extracorporeal techniques, high-frequency ventilation, prone position, and fluctuating PEEP, and attempts to review critically the available literature regarding their application.
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Clinics in chest medicine · Dec 1990
ReviewPulmonary pathology of the adult respiratory distress syndrome.
Lung morphology in ARDS reflects the rapid evolution from interstitial and alveolar edema to end-stage fibrosis consequent to injury of the alveolocapillary unit. This morphologic progression, termed diffuse alveolar damage, has been subdivided into sequentially occurring exudative, proliferative, and fibrotic phases. Pulmonary lesions correlate with the phase of alveolar damage rather than with its specific cause. ⋯ It must be re-emphasized that the lung is stereotyped in its response to injury, and, consequently, descriptive, or even quantitative, studies of lung morphology can only provide clues regarding the initiating factors and pathogenetic mechanisms of ARDS. Progress in understanding the pathogenesis of ARDS and the devising of rational approaches to therapy will ultimately depend on careful clinical and experimental studies that unravel basic mechanisms of cellular injury and response. The course of these investigations must be guided by and constantly correlated with the pathologic features that occur in humans.
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Clinics in chest medicine · Dec 1990
ReviewLung mechanics in the adult respiratory distress syndrome. Recent conceptual advances and implications for management.
Since the earliest description of the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), impaired lung compliance has been a key diagnostic feature. Newer data suggest that a clear understanding of the mechanisms of acute lung injury may be needed to select the ventilatory pressures and patterns of flow delivery required for optimal gas exchange, adequate oxygen supply to tissue, and avoidance of barotrauma. This discussion briefly reviews the ARDS-specific derangements of lung mechanisms, describes measurement techniques applicable to the clinical setting, and suggests ways in which such information can be used in patient management.
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Clinics in chest medicine · Dec 1990
ReviewSepsis syndrome, the adult respiratory distress syndrome, and nosocomial pneumonia. A common clinical sequence.
Systemic sepsis and pneumonia are common predisposing factors for ARDS, which can serve as the initial manifestation of the multisystem organ failure syndrome. Primary pneumonia that necessitates ICU admission leads to ARDS in approximately 10% of patients. Systemic infection can also lead to ARDS, but when bacteremia alone is present, the risk is low (probably less than 5%). ⋯ This infection appears to add to the propagation of the multiple system organ failure that has already begun. In the future, it may become possible to prevent this infection, which would be a welcome development, because currently, we are stymied in our efforts to diagnose and treat pneumonia in the setting of acute lung injury. Preventive efforts will follow from an understanding of the pathogenesis of pneumonia and in the future may include topical antibiotics, selective digestive decontamination, and prophylactic passive immunotherapy.
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Clinics in chest medicine · Sep 1990
ReviewDyspnea in the patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Etiology and management.
We have summarized much of the known information regarding the pathogenesis of dyspnea in the COPD patient and have reviewed a great many of the therapeutic options that have been investigated. It should be obvious that we are really in the early stages of our understanding about this symptom, and that we know very little about how to decide which treatment options are likely to succeed in any individual. At this time, there is no substitute for a careful assessment of each treatment modality that is instituted using a measurement tool, and the value of a comprehensive assessment as outlined cannot be overemphasized.