Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a life-threatening clinical syndrome with heterogeneous underlying pathologic processes and is characterized by widespread lung inflammation resulting in bilateral alveolar infiltrates, atelectasis, and hypoxemia. This chapter provides a detailed discussion on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of ARDS. Patients with the risk factors are at increased risk for development of ARDS. Treatment strategies focus on treating the underlying cause in addition to supportive care while safely maximizing ventilator settings to improve hypoxemia and to decrease ventilator-associated lung injury. ARDS in pregnancy may be due to previously described conditions and risk factors, or due to pregnancy-related conditions. These include, but are not limited to, amniotic fluid embolism, chorioamnionitis, and severe pyelonephritis. Limited research exists on the management of ARDS in pregnancy, and treatment approaches are similar to those for non-pregnant patients.