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October - LRS Institute of Tuberculosis & Respiratory Diseases

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ADULT RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME<br />

Thus, the patient is worse than before<br />

though arterial Pa02 is high. The smaller the<br />

a/A ratio, the worse is the patient’s gas status,<br />

reflecting a poor overall oxygen transfer between<br />

alveoli and blood.<br />

11. Hemodynamic monitoring : The decision<br />

between cardiogenic and noncardiogenic pulmonary<br />

edema and hemodynamic situations are<br />

best decided by the use <strong>of</strong> flow-directed Swan-<br />

Ganz catheter. A pulmonary capillary wedgepressure<br />

<strong>of</strong> less than 15 mmHg indicates<br />

noncardiogenic origin and wedgepressures <strong>of</strong><br />

less than 5 mmHg indicate that the patient is<br />

hypovolemic/hypotensive. The cardiac-output<br />

can also be measured as it is equal to the<br />

oxygen consumption divided by the arterial<br />

content minus the mixed venous content for<br />

oxygen.<br />

Cardiac out-put= 02 consumption (ml/min)<br />

arterial 02 content - venous<br />

02 content (ml/100)<br />

Oxygen content is proportional to the<br />

amount <strong>of</strong> hemoglobin in grams/100 ml <strong>of</strong> blood<br />

multiplied by the oxygen saturation <strong>of</strong> the<br />

hemoglobin in percent i.e.<br />

Oxygen content=Hgb x Hgb saturation.<br />

The oxygen dissociation is a sigmoid shaped<br />

curve and indicates that the Pa02 in excess <strong>of</strong><br />

85 mmHg adds little additional oxygen to the<br />

blood while a fall below 50 mmHg leads to large<br />

reduction in oxygen content.<br />

The trend <strong>of</strong> cardiac output can be assessed<br />

by estimating mixed venous oxygen tension<br />

(PV02). If the arterial P02 is relatively constant,<br />

a decrease in the PV02 implies that the cardiac<br />

output has fallen and tissue perfusion being<br />

inadequate, more oxygen per unit time has been<br />

extracted from the blood. When PV02 is less<br />

than 25-30 mmHg, it indicates tissue<br />

oxygenation problems.<br />

Complications<br />

Multi-organ failure and ventilatory and<br />

Intensive care setting in the management <strong>of</strong><br />

ARDS can lead to many complications (Pingleton,<br />

1982). Pulmonary complications include<br />

pulmonary embolic disease which is difficult to<br />

diagnose without a pulmonary angiogram (Table<br />

IV). Prophylactic low-dose heparin decreases the<br />

incidence <strong>of</strong> pulmonary emboli (Pingleton et al,<br />

1981). Pulmonary barotrauma includes<br />

pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and<br />

subcutaneous emphysema. High inflation<br />

163<br />

pressures during the use <strong>of</strong> volume ventilators,<br />

high levels <strong>of</strong> PEEP, high tidal volumes,<br />

necrotizing pneumonias and bronchoscopy<br />

during mechanical ventilation may lead to<br />

ba.rotrauma (Bone et al, 1976).<br />

Gastrointestinal hemorrhage, a fatal complication<br />

can be averted by the prophylactic use<br />

<strong>of</strong> antacids (Kahn et al, 1981). Cardiac<br />

complications include arrhythmim, hypotension<br />

and low cardiac output. Although use <strong>of</strong> flowdirected<br />

balloon-tipped Swan-Ganz catheters<br />

can monitor these complications but it may<br />

itself be arrhythmogenic. Renal failure and<br />

nosocomial infection may be associated with<br />

increased mortality in ARDS.<br />

Anticipation <strong>of</strong> complications, use <strong>of</strong> prophylactic<br />

measures and intensive management<br />

is vital for patient management.<br />

Prognosis<br />

ARDS carries a mortality in excess <strong>of</strong> 50 and<br />

it has not changed much in the last decade in<br />

spite <strong>of</strong> important developments in intensive<br />

care monitoring and organ support devices. The<br />

prognosis, however, depends upon the<br />

effectiveness dcause, <strong>of</strong> therapy, <strong>of</strong> syndrome, or<br />

t<br />

py and the p<br />

absence <strong>of</strong> complications and unrelated<br />

diseases. Once the patient with ARDS survives<br />

pulmonary function may return to near normal<br />

in 85 % <strong>of</strong> patients. Residual sequelae (diffusion<br />

b liti i fl b t ti ) t d t<br />

Future<br />

Cyclo-oxygenase blockers, antioxidants (superoxide<br />

dismutase, Vit. E) prostaglandin<br />

inhibitors (indomethacin, ibuprotein), prostacy<br />

clinin fission etc. and similar compounds are<br />

some <strong>of</strong> the current approaches under test.<br />

Monoclonal antibody technology may be used to<br />

prevent neutrophilic aggregation in response to<br />

C5a and other chemoattractants. Artificial<br />

surfactant might be delivered by inhalation or<br />

intrevenously as lipsomes.<br />

There is also a need to find a marker for<br />

ARDS to help identify patients likely to develop<br />

ARDS-D-Dimer, a fibrin degradation product is<br />

one such possible marker. Evidence <strong>of</strong><br />

complement activation may also serve as a<br />

marker. As life-support systems alone cannot<br />

stem the death-toll, innovative pharmacologic<br />

approaches must be tested, including possibly<br />

multidrug regimens each aimed at a specific<br />

pathophysiologic process known to be operating<br />

in these patients.

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