Circulatory shock
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The role of neutrophil oxidative burst activation (OBA) in the development of fulminant post-trauma adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was studied in 30 patients. Neutrophil (PMN) chemiluminescence (LE) was used as the index of OBA. Serially, for 8 days post-trauma, patient neutrophils (Pc) were studied in their own serum (Ps) normal serum (Ns), or Gey's solution (G). ⋯ These changes were all simultaneously significant (P less than 0.05 to P less than 0.0001) by Bonferroni t-statistic applied to ANOVA. The clinical importance of these physiologic and biochemical responses was emphasized by the significantly (P less than 0.005) increased mortality in the ARDS patients. These data suggest that PMN LE and simple measures of respiratory function are early biologic markers of the development of fulminant post-traumatic ARDS and can be used to predict ARDS severity.