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Report of the American-European Consensus Conference on acute respiratory distress syndrome: Definitions, mechanisms, relevant outcomes, and clinical trial coordination

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Abstract

The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a process of nonhydrostatic pulmonary edema and hypoxemia associated with a variety of etiologies, carries a high morbidity rate, mortality rate (10% to 90%), and financial cost. The reported annual incidence in the United States is 150,000 cases, but this figure has been challenged and may be different in Europe. Part of the reason for these uncertainties is the heterogeneity of diseases underlying ARDS and the lack of uniform definitions for ARDS. Thus, those who wish to know the true incidence and outcome of this clinical syndrome are stymied. The European American Consensus Committee on ARDS was formed to focus on these issues and on the pathophysiologic mechanisms of the process. It was felt that international coordination between North America and Europe in clinical studies of ARDS was becoming increasingly important to address the recent plethora of potential therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of ARDS.

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  • Cited by (0)

    This conference report is being simultaneously copublished by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (formerly the American Review of Respiratory Disease) and Intensive Care Medicine. Copyright is shared by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine.

    The Consensus Committee met on May 16, 1992, in Miami, Florida, and on October 26, 1992, in Barcelona, Spain (see Appendix for list of Consensus Committee members).

    Co-Chairmen: Gordon R Bernard, MD, Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee, and Antonio Artigas, MD, Sabadell, Spain.

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