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The challenge

ARDS is a syndrome that appears to be under recognized, undertreated, and associated with a high mortality rate. ARDS is a progressive process with an early treatment window that can be exploited.[1]

ARDS is a type of acute diffuse, inflammatory lung injury, leading to increased pulmonary vascular permeability, increased lung weight, and loss of aerated lung tissue (The Berlin Definition of ARDS). It is associated with high mortality and it can be caused by several etiologies.

Care for patients with ARDS is complicated and associated with long hospitalizations and consumes significant healthcare resources.[2]  ARDS appears to be undertreated in terms of the use of recommended approaches to mechanical ventilation and the use of some adjunctive measures. These findings indicate the potential for improvement in management of patients with ARDS. [1]

Clinical signs and symptoms of ARDS


ARDS remains under recognized, with only 60.2% of patients being recognized by clinicians [1]. Learn more about the challenge of recognizing and treating Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

 

See illustration references [3][4]

The current recommendations

American Thoracic Society / European Society of Intensive Care Medicine / Society of Critical Care Medicine

Clinical Practice Guideline:
Mechanical Ventilation in Adult Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome[5][6]

Treatment

Recommendation

Strength of Recommendation

Mechanical Ventilation using LTVs and Inspiratory Pressures

Recommended that adult patients with ARDS receive mechanical ventilation with tidal volumes limited to 4-8ml/kg PBW and inspiratory plateau pressures <30cm H2O

Strong recommendation with moderate confidence in effect estimates

Prone Positioning

Recommended that adult patients with severe ARDS receive prone positioning for more than 12 hours per day

Strong recommendation with moderate to high confidence in effect estimates

High PEEP vs Low PEEP

Suggest that adult patients with moderate or severe ARDS receive higher rather than lower levels of PEEP

Conditional recommendation with moderate confidence in effect estimates

Recruitment Maneuvers (RMs)

Suggest that adult patients with ARDS receive RMs

Conditional recommendation with moderate confidence in effect estimates

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO)

Additional evidence is necessary to make a definitive recommendation for or against ECMO in patients with severe ARDS

Recommend ongoing research measuring clinical outcomes of severe ARDS patients receiving ECMO

The importance of knowing volume status

Every day in the ICU, clinicians have to face this therapeutic dilemma for the patient with circulatory failure and lung impairment, should I opt for fluid administration?

In case of severe ARDS associated with shock, it has been suggested to consider using advanced monitoring devices at an earlier phase to assist in defining logical therapeutic approach.

Clinical signs and symptoms of ARDS

The Goal of Ventilation

"The goal of mechanical ventilation in patients with ARDS is to maintain gas
exchange while avoiding the complications such as ventilator-induced lung
injury (VILI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), or ventilation-induced
diaphragm dysfunction (VIDD)"[5]

see references [5][8][9]

Doctors with patient, advanced hemodynamic monitoring

Diagnose pulmonary edema at bedside

ARDS is characterized by pulmonary edema, the accumulation of fluid in the interstitium of the lung tissue and/or the alveoli. This leads to impaired gas exchange and may even cause pulmonary failure. The amount of pulmonary edema can easily be quantified at the bedside by measuring the extravascular lung water index (ELWI). The next important question is: What is the reason for the pulmonary edema? The pulmonary vascular permeability index (PVPI) enables a differential diagnosis. In cardiogenic pulmonary edema, a negative fluid balance is sought, while in cases of permeability pulmonary edema treating the cause of inflammation has priority.

Cardiohelp System

ECMO for ARDS

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for severe acute respiratory failure was proposed more than 40 years ago.[10]   Since that time improvements in technology have made ECMO safer and easier to use, allowing for more widespread use in acute respiratory failure.[11] 
VV-ECMO has become the treatment of choice for patients with respiratory failure refractory to optimal mechanical ventilation and conventional medical treatments.[12] 

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome
The EOLIA Trial

The efficacy of venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains controversial. [13] EOLIA trial was designed to determine the effect of early initiation of ECMO in patients with the most severe forms of ARDS.[1]

ECLS (ECMO) therapy in ICU for adult patients with ARDS

Early ECMO

35% mortality
(44/124)

ECLS (ECMO) therapy in ICU for adult patients with ARDS

249 Patients

124 received immediate vv-ECMO and
125 continued conventional treatment

ECLS (ECMO) therapy in ICU for adult patients with ARDS

Conventional Ventilation*

46% mortality
(57/125)

*with ECMO as rescue if needed

Published: Combes et al, New England Journal of Medicine 2018; 378:

The efficacy of veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (vv-ECMO) in patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains controversial. The EOLIA trial was designed to determine the effect of early initiation of ECMO in patients with the most severe forms of ARDS.

  1. 1. Bellani G, Laffey JG, Pham T, et al. LUNG SAFE Investigators; ESICM Trials Group. Epidemiology, Patterns of Care, and Mor­tality for Patients With Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Intensive Care Units in 50 Countries. JAMA. 2016 Feb 23;315(8):788- 800.

  2. 2. Bice T, Cox CE, Carson SS. Cost and health care utilization in ARDS--different from other critical illness? Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2013 Aug;34(4):529-36.

  3. 3. Health Topic "ARDS" on National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

  4. 4. ARDS Definition Task Force, Ranieri VM, Rubenfeld GD, Thompson BT, Ferguson, et al. Acute respiratory distress syndrome: the Berlin Definition. JAMA. 2012 Jun

  5. 5. Fan E, Brodie D, Slutsky AS. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment. JAMA. 2018 Feb 20;319(7):698-710.

  6. 6. Fan E, Del Sorbo L, Goligher EC, et al. American Thoracic Society, European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, and Society of Critical Care Medicine. An Official American Thoracic Society/European Society of Intensive Care Medicine/Society of Critical Care Medicine Clinical Practice Guideline: Mechanical Ventilation in Adult Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 May 1;195(9):1253-1263.

  7. 7. Teboul, JL., Saugel, B., Cecconi, M. et al. Intensive Care Med (2016) 42: 1350. hps://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-016-4375-7

  8. 8. Amato MB, Meade MO, Slutsky AS, et al. Driving pressure and survival in the acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J Med.2015 Feb 19;372(8):747-55.

  9. 9. Yoshida T,Fujino Y, Amato MB, Kavanagh BP. Fifty Years of Research in ARDS. Spontaneous Breathing during Mechanical Ventilation Risks, Mechanisms, and Management. Am J Respir Crit Care Med Vol 195, Iss 8, pp 985–992, Apr 15, 2017.

  10. 10. Ventetuolo CE, Muratore CS. Extracorporeal life support in critically ill adults. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2014;190(5):497–508.

  11. 11. Toshiyuki Aokage, Kenneth Palmér, Shingo Ichiba and Shinhiro Takeda; Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for acute respiratory distress syndrome; Journal of Intensive Care20153:17

  12. 12. MacCallum NS1, Evans TW.; Epidemiology of acute lung injury. Curr Opin Crit Care. 2005 Feb;11(1):43-9.

  13. 13. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome