Most common causes of acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS cause a clinical condition called as ARDS first described by Ashbaugh in 1967, to describe a group of patients with acute inflammation of the lungs resulting in severe hypoxia that is not amenable for correction by oxygen therapy.
The reported incidence of ARDS is about 1.5—13.5% per 100,000 population with a mortality of 2760%.
Most common causes of acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS
A variety of aetiological factors –
pneumonia,
Aspiration,
Mechanical trauma,
Pulmonary embolism, and
Systemic sepsis
Histologically, the most common causes of acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS is characterized by diffuse damage to both the endothelial and epithelial surfaces of the alveoli that disrupts the lung’s barrier function, flooding alveolar spaces with fluid, inactivating surfactant, causing inflammation, and producing severe gas exchange abnormalities and loss of lung compliance.
Computed tomography of the chest demonstrates heterogeneous areas of consolidation and atelectasis, predominantly in the dependent lung.
The most common causes of acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS lead to diffuse alveolar damage, including capillary injury, and areas of exposed alveolar epithelial basement membrane. The alveolar spaces are lined with hyaline membranes and are filled with protein rich edema fluid and inflammatory cells.