Acute respiratory distress syndrome

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), previously known as respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), acute lung injury, adult respiratory distress syndrome, or shock lung, is a severe, life-threatening medical condition characterized by widespread inflammation in the lungs. ARDS may be triggered by various clinical insults such as trauma, pneumonia and sepsis.

ARDS is a disease of the microscopic air sacs of the lungs (alveoli) that leads to decreased exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide (gas exchange). ARDS is associated with several pathologic changes: the release of inflammatory chemicals, breakdown of the cells lining the lung's blood vessels, surfactant loss leading to increased surface tension in the lung, fluid accumulation in the lung, and excessive scarring. The hallmark of ARDS is diffuse alveolar damage (DAD), which is acute inflammation of alveolar walls with hyaline membranes.

The syndrome has a high mortality between 20 and 50%. The mortality rate with ARDS varies widely based on disease severity, the patient's age, and the presence of other underlying medical conditions.

Respiratory distress syndrome

There are two forms of respiratory distress syndrome:

Also, respiratory distress can mean:

Infant respiratory distress syndrome

Infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS), also called neonatal respiratory distress syndrome,respiratory distress syndrome of newborn, or increasingly surfactant deficiency disorder (SDD), and previously called hyaline membrane disease (HMD), is a syndrome in premature infants caused by developmental insufficiency of surfactant production and structural immaturity in the lungs. It can also be a consequence of neonatal infection. It can also result from a genetic problem with the production of surfactant associated proteins. IRDS affects about 1% of newborn infants and is the leading cause of death in preterm infants. The incidence decreases with advancing gestational age, from about 50% in babies born at 26–28 weeks, to about 25% at 30–31 weeks. The syndrome is more frequent in infants of diabetic mothers and in the second born of premature twins.

IRDS is distinct from pulmonary hypoplasia, another leading cause of neonatal death that involves respiratory distress.