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Introduction
- Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a respiratory disorder - also known as non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, increased-permeability pulmonary edema, stiff lung, shock lung or acute lung injury, is a major cause of acute respiratory failure.
- In general, the oxygen supply to the blood is cut off due to inflammation in the lungs. The alveoli (air sacs) in the lungs are responsible for supplying oxygen to the blood, which delivers it to the cells of the body. This inability of the alveoli in delivering oxygen results in less oxygen supply – leading to shortness in breath or respiratory failure.
- In 1994 the American-European Consensus Conference (AECC) used the term “acute respiratory distress syndrome” instead of “adult respiratory distress syndrome” because the syndrome occurs in both adults and children. Year 1967 marked the first official description of ARDS by a group of pulmonary and critical care physicians at the University of Colorado. They reported it to be a non-cardiogenic form of pulmonary edema (leakage of fluid) characterized by the accumulation of both protein and cells in the alveoli in the presence of normal left ventricular filling pressures.
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