Articles: respiratory-distress-syndrome.
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Adult respiratory distress syndrome is being recognized more frequently as a complication of a number of conditions. The causes, pathophysiology, pathology, clinical manifestations and management are reviewed in this article. The use of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and super-PEEP is discussed. The value of measurements of mixed venous oxygen partial pressure (PVO2) in the treatment of respiratory failure, especially in the presence of high inspired oxygen tensions, is explained and emphasized.
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Southern medical journal · May 1981
Acute pulmonary histoplasmosis presenting as adult respiratory distress syndrome: effect of therapy on clinical and laboratory features.
Three patients with acute pulmonary histoplasmosis presented with extensive, diffuse bilateral infiltrates on chest roentgenograms. Fungal elements were seen in the bronchial secretions of two patients; Histoplasma capsulatum was grown from the third patient and from soil from the patients' workplace. ⋯ Initial pulmonary function tests suggested mild restriction in each, with normal test results by the fourth month of follow-up. Our experience suggests that amphotericin B may shorten the course of acute histoplasmosis and that corticosteroid therapy may be efficacious in controlling the symptoms related to hyperresponsiveness in fulminant primary disease.
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Case Reports
Pulmonary function after adult respiratory distress syndrome associated with Legionnaires' disease pneumonia.
Two patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by Legionnaires' disease were treated with erythromycin lactobionate, and they survived. Sequential pulmonary function studies and chest roentgenograms were obtained in both patients. Despite previous suggestions that severe fibrosis might complicate the recovery of patients with this disease, both patients had normal lung volumes and only minimal reduction in single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity ten weeks after the onset of the disease. Thus, pulmonary function after ARDS caused by Legionnaires' disease seems to be only minimally disturbed.
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Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. · May 1981
Pulmonary function and exercise gas exchange in survivors of adult respiratory distress syndrome.
Pulmonary function studies were performed on 13 survivors of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Six of these 13 patients had a forced vital capacity (FVC) and total lung capacity (TLC) less than 80% of predicted within 2 months of the onset of ARDS. Seven patients followed 6 months or more showed no significant difference between measured and predicted FVC (p = 0.26) or TLC (p = 0.12). ⋯ The ratio of dead space to tidal volume decreased to less than 0.25 when VCO2 exceeded 1.0 L/min. We concluded that lung mechanics return to predicted normal values within 4 to 6 months after ARDS, but abnormalities of pulmonary gas exchange persist. Pulmonary vascular obstruction does not appear to explain persistent abnormalities of gas exchange.