Articles: respiratory-distress-syndrome.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Permissive hypercapnia and intravascular oxygenator in the treatment of patients with ARDS.
This open clinical study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that an intravascular oxygenator (IVOX) may help to perform permissive hypoventilation in 10 patients with severe ARDS. After initial evaluation, we tried to reduce ventilator settings before and after IVOX implantation. Before IVOX, poor clinical tolerance and worsening oxygenation did not allow for a significant decrease in ventilator settings. ⋯ Tolerance of the IVOX device was good, but insertion of the device was followed by a significant decrease in both cardiac index and pulmonary wedge pressure. In conclusion, IVOX improves tolerance of hypoventilation by limiting hypercapnia in ARDS patients. These preliminary results must be confirmed by a randomized controlled study.
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Multiple organ failure is the most common cause of death in critically ill patients in the United States. Acute respiratory failure is the most important single component of this clinical scenario, with a mortality risk > 50%. Key pathophysiologic events occur in the pulmonary microvasculature at the interface between circulating elements and the external environment. ⋯ We are now approaching the threshold for utilization of several new and specific approaches. While no single pharmacologic therapy is likely to be curative for this complex problem, it is probable that certain approaches will be of clinical benefit in the near future. This review is designed to provide a basis for understanding this evolution.
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Organ interactions are increasingly recognized as key determinants of the pathogenesis and potential for resolution of tissue injury during critical illness. A paradigm for a systems model that takes into account the modulatory effects of organ interactions and incorporates the expanding number of molecular and cellular pro-inflammatory networks is still lacking. Unifying hypotheses for multiple organ dysfunction during the systemic inflammatory response syndrome have been slow to emerge. ⋯ These regulatory elements include: a) control of systemic endotoxemia, bacteremia, and vasoactive by-products of sepsis and trauma by the gut-liver axis of inflammation, mononuclear phagocytic clearance, and Fc and complement receptor-mediated events; b) production and export of endogenous cytokine and eicosanoid mediators by Kupffer cells, especially in relation to changes in the prevailing hepatic oxygen supply; c) metabolic inactivation and detoxification of such mediators via cell-to-cell interactions at the Kupffer cell-hepatocyte interface; and d) cytokine-driven synthesis of acute-phase proteins that critically modulate metabolism and inflammation. Our goal is to summarize and integrate recent information that sheds light on mechanisms by which hepatic function modulates host defense homeostasis, thereby influencing pulmonary function in the adult respiratory distress syndrome. Liver-lung interactions are presented as a heuristic paradigm of organ interactions that dynamically modulate systemic immunophysiologic responses during critical illness.
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The present study was designed to evaluate if continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) augments the effect of nitric oxide (NO) inhalation on matching between ventilation and perfusion (VA/Q) during acute lung injury. ⋯ Although pulmonary vascular resistance can be lowered with NO inhalation alone, recruitment of gas exchange units with CPAP is necessary to produce a beneficial effect of NO inhalation on VA/Q matching and oxygenation. When recruitment of gas exchange units with CPAP brings gaseous NO in contact with enough pulmonary blood vessels, NO-induced vasodilation will augment VA/Q matching by a steal mechanism.
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Case Reports
Prone position for ventilation in patients with severe adult respiratory distress syndrome.
We report 3 cases of severe adult respiratory distress syndrome. The patients were very difficult to oxygenate, even with the most advanced conventional mechanical ventilation techniques. ⋯ Reports of the use of the prone position for ventilation are scanty, and this is the first time it has been reported in this country. The proposed mechanisms for its effectiveness are reviewed.