Articles: respiratory-distress-syndrome.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Hematologic observations made in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome in the cooperative ECMO project.
In a recently completed three-year multicenter trial, 90 individuals with adult acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) were randomly allocated to conventional therapy with or without long-term extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This study conclusively demonstrated that ARDS is associated with frequent major bleeding and thrombotic episodes and that the bleeding correlates best with the degree of thrombocytopenia and is enhanced by the machine. Neither heparin's therapeutic efficacy nor its ability to increase bleeding could be proven. ⋯ Besides thrombocytopenia, there were lowered circulating levels of factors VII and XII which may be related to changes in the pulmonary endothelium. ECMO was associated with relative leukopenia and a marked shift to immature circulating leukocytes. Further studies are needed to better define the clinical importance of thrombosis and bleeding in the lung, the role for heparin in treatment, and the meaning of reductions in coagulation factors in defining the course, prognosis and response to therapy of patients with ARDS.
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J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. · Feb 1978
Prevention of pulmonary insufficiency through prophylactic use of PEEP and rapid respiratory rates.
This study evaluated the effectiveness of prophylactic positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) rapid respiratory rates (RRR), and high tidal volume (HTV) in prevention of congestive atelectasis. Measurements of pulmonary hemodynamics, mechanics, gas exchange, functional residual capacity (FRC), pathology, and cinemicroscopy were performed in 45 anesthetized dogs subjected to hemorrhagic hypotension. Randomly, the animals received control ventilation, HTV (20 ml. per kilogram), RRR (32 breaths per minute), or PEEP (5 cm. of water). ⋯ RRR did not affect FRC but minimized the SPV-LA gradient. This effect on the pulmonary venules theoretically could be mediated by stimulating lymphatic flow, thereby decreasing interstitial edema. Thus PEEP and RRR are beneficial when used prophylactically but may work by widely differing mechanisms.
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Sudden death after subcutaneous injection of silicone has been described. However, there are no cases in the literature of clinically diagnosed noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. ⋯ The presence of birefringent particles in the alveolar macrophages implies entrance of this material into the vascular compartment, its embolization to the lung and migration across the damaged alveolar-capillary membrane. Large volume subcutaneous injections of silicone should be added to the differential diagnosis of the etiology of the adult respiratory distress syndrome.