Practical Management of the Patient with Acute Lung Injury

In 1967, the first description of acute respiratory distress in adults, by Ashbaugh

and Petty (1), launched a new field of clinical and laboratory research. Over the

last four decades, much has been learned about the natural history, pathogenesis,

epidemiology, and treatment of patients with acute lung injury (ALI) and the

acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (2). Despite this increasing body

of knowledge, mortality rates remained high, and no interventional trials demon-

strated a convincing mortality benefit, until recently.