ABSTRACT
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.