Articles: respiratory-distress-syndrome.
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Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens taken from nine patients with lung contusion following multiple trauma were compared with specimens from different control groups. Early interstitial and intra-alveolar reactions are PMN degranulation, mediator release and high protein leakage. The alveolar reactions are similar in extent to the reaction found in post-traumatic ARDS.
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Basic scientists and clinicians have written numerous articles on the diverse causes of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). There is no specific diagnostic test for ARDS; the condition is characterized by interstitial lung edema, reduction in lung compliance, alveolar and small airway closure, decrease in functional residual capacity, and persistent hypoxia with increasing amounts of pulmonary blood flow coursing through nonventilated or poorly ventilated alveoli. Recent studies have emphasized the roles of macrophages and polymorphonuclear neutrophils in lung defense and injury. ⋯ ARDS is not a single disease process, but appears to represent a final common pathway for the manifestation of a variety of lung injuries. The goal of therapy is to eliminate the predisposing condition and support the patient. New modes of ventilatory and pharmacologic therapy are presented.
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Between February 1988 and March 1990, ECMO was performed (veno-arterial perfusion; 3 cases, venovenous; one case) is 4 ARDS patients. However no patient could be weaned from ECMO (32-80 hours) and all died. The causes of deaths were attributed to the complications of ARDS itself that existed before ECMO therapy and ECMO was highly effective in providing temporally life support. We consider that entry criteria of ECMO should not be based on gas exchange alone and that lung compliance and circulatory insufficiency should be taken into account.