Thursday, August 2, 2018

PULMONARY DISTRESS

It is also known as Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a medical condition occuring in critically ill patients characterized by widespread inflammation in the lungs. ARDS is not a particular disease, rather it is a clinical phenotype which may be triggered by various pathologies such as trauma, pneumonia and sepsis. The hallmark of pulmonary distress is diffuse injury to cells which form the barrier of the microscopic air sacs of the lungs, surfactant dysfunction, activation of the innate immune system response etc. In effect, this condition impairs the lungs ability to exchange O2 and CO2 with the blood across a thin layer of the lungs alveoli.
Pulmanory distress may be seen in the setting of pneumonia or sepsis, or severe inflammation. It is a form of fluid accumulation in the lungs not explained by heart failure. It is typically provoked by an acute injury to the lungs that results in flooding of alveoli. Neutrophils and some T-cells quickly migrate into the inflammed lung tissue and contribute in the amplification of the condition. It is usually treated with mechanical ventilation in the ICU.    

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