Definitions Acute respiratory failure describes any impairment in oxygenation or ventilation in which the arterial oxygen tension falls below 60 mm Hg (acute hypoxemia), the carbon dioxide tension rises above 50 mm Hg (acute hypercarbia, hypercapnia) and the pH drops below 7.35, or both. For patients who have underlying chronic respiratory failure, acute hypercarbia can be diagnosed by an incre...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is characterized by diffuse inflammatory lung injury and is classified as mild, moderate, and severe. Clinically, hypoxemia, bilateral opacities in lung images, and decreased pulmonary compliance are observed. Sepsis is one of the most prevalent causes of this condition (30 - 50%). Among the direct causes of acute respiratory distress syndrome, chlorine inhal...

OBJECTIVE To establish the incidence of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome, as well as related risk factors and mortality in an intensive care unit. To compare patients developing lung injury with at-risk patients not presenting acute lung injury or acute respiratory distress syndrome. METHODS The study was conducted in the intensive care unit of the Ribeirão Preto Hosp...

Acute respiratory failure is a life-threatening complication in cancer patients. During neutropenia, patients are at high risk for bacterial pneumonia or invasive fungal infections, when neutropenia is prolonged. A high proportion of patients in whom neutropenia had been complicated by pneumonia will present with substantial respiratory deterioration during neutropenia recovery. Patients with f...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW To discuss the recent literature concerning the use of noninvasive ventilation for hypoxemic acute respiratory failure. RECENT FINDINGS The benefits of noninvasive ventilation for patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure are unclear. In immunocompromised patients and following thoracic surgery, there is a strong rationale for using noninvasive ventilation to treat a...

The use of corticosteroids in acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome is one of the most controversial issues in the literature. However, acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome studies are restricted to adults, despite the widespread use of corticosteroid for hyper-reactive respiratory airway diseases in children. This review aimed to describe experimental and c...

PURPOSE Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a life-threatening form of respiratory failure without an established pharmacological treatment. Recently, macrolides have been found to be beneficial in cases of acute lung injury, but evidence is limited. MATERIALS AND METHODS This single-centre retrospective cohort evaluation of hospitalized patients with sepsis-associated acute respiratory di...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome is a disease of acute onset characterized by hypoxemia and infiltrates on chest radiographs that affects both adults and children of all ages. It is an important cause of respiratory failure in pediatric intensive care units and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, until recently, the definitions and diagnostic criteria for ac...

BACKGROUND To review the recent advances in ventilatory therapy for acute respiratory failure in children. DATA SOURCES Recent published peer-review articles on mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure in children. SUMMARY OF REVIEW Advances in conventional treatment for acute respiratory failure (e.g. mechanical ventilation) have not increased survival in children. However, rec...

Sea drowning is a common cause of accidental death worldwide. Respiratory complications such as acute pulmonary oedema, which is often complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome, is often seen. Noninvasive ventilation is already widely used as a first approach to treat acute respiratory failure resulting from multiple diseases. We report a case of a 45 year old man with a history of epi...