To determine the incidence and 90-d mortality of acute respiratory failure (ARF), acute lung injury (ALI), and the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), we carried out an 8-wk prospective cohort study in Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland. All intensive care unit (ICU) admissions (n = 13,346) >/= 15 yr of age were assessed between October 6th and November 30th, 1997 in 132 of 150 ICUs with resources to treat patients with intubation and mechanical ventilation (I + MV) >/= 24 h. ARF was defined as I + MV >/= 24 h. ALI and ARDS were defined using criteria recommended by the American-European Consensus Conference on ARDS. Calculation to correct the incidence for unidentified subjects from nonparticipating ICUs was made. No correction for in- or out-migration from the study area was possible. The population in the three countries >/= 15 yr of age was 11.74 million. One thousand two hundred thirty-one ARF patients were included, 287 ALI and 221 ARDS patients were identified. The incidences were for ARF 77.6, for ALI 17.9, and for ARDS 13.5 patients per 100,000/yr. Ninety-day mortality was 41.0% for ARF, including ALI and ARDS patients, 42.2% for ALI not fulfilling ARDS criteria, and 41.2% for ARDS.

Acute lung injury was frequent in our sample of European ICUs (7.1%); one third of patients presented with mild ALI, but more than half rapidly evolved to ARDS. While the mortality of ARDS remains high, that of mild ALI is twice as low, confirming the grading of severity between the two forms of the syndrome.

The retinal oximeter is reliable, easy to use, and sensitive to changes in SO(2) when concentration of O(2) in inhaled air is changed.

Intensive Care Med (2003) 30:51-61 Due to an unfortunate error the second sentence in the second paragraph of "Discussion/Occurrence of acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome in intensive care units" was published incorrect. We herewith publish the correct sentence:We found that about 30% of patients presented with the mild form of ALI, but that a minority of these (45.6%) did not evolve to ARDS.

No independent significant association was seen between 90-day mortality and degree of hypoxaemia, PEEP, MAP or BE for the first full week of ICU care in either ARDS or non-ARDS. In a sub-group of non-ARDS a lower PaO2/FIO2 and MAP tended to influence mortality where a significant association was seen for 3 of 7 study days. Age, gender, APS, presence of a chronic disease and a pulmonary/non-pulmonary reason for the respiratory failure were associated with mortality in non-ARDS, while only age and APS showed a similar association in ARDS.

Static pressure-volume (P-V) curves of the respiratory system were obtained in 48 healthy children (1 mo to 16 yr of age) during anesthesia and muscle paralysis. The lungs were inflated to a pressure of 25 to 40 cm H2O, and during the subsequent deflation an interrupter placed in the airway tubing opened and closed every 0.16 s. Airway flow was integrated to obtain the volume decrement between consecutive flow interruptions. Airway pressure was measured during interruptions, and a curve relating pressure to lung volume was plotted, assuming the lung volume at zero pressure to equal functional residual capacity (FRC). FRC was measured using tracer gas washout. The maximum slope of the P-V curve (maximum compliance = Crsmax, ml/cm H2O) was closely related to length (in centimeters) of the child: Crsmax = 7.7 x 10(-4) x length2.38; r = 0.97. The pressure coinciding with Crsmax was 6 +/- 1 cm H2O (mean +/- SD) in infants (1 to 6 mo of age) and 12 +/- 1 cm H2O in older children (> 1.5 yr of age). Total lung capacity (TLC) per kg body weight increased with age and was 52 +/- 13 ml/kg in infants and 87 +/- 11 mg/kg in older children. The FRC/TLC ratio was greater in infants (38 +/- 4%) than in older children (30 +/- 5%). The lung volume coinciding with Crsmax was nearly the same at all ages, when expressed as a percentage of TLC: 62 +/- 3%. Specific compliance of the respiratory system, that is, Crsmax/TLC, decreased with growth and was 0.044 +/- 0.006 cm H2O-1 in infants and 0.035 +/- 0.004 cm H2O-1 in older children. It is concluded that although the P-V relations of the respiratory system changed markedly with growth, especially during the first year of life, the lung volume (%TLC) at which maximum compliance occurred varied little.

we found the incidence of ADP to be approximately 1%. EBP was the commonest method used for its management, and the success rate was high in most hospitals. Formal training in epidural analgesia was absent in most countries and trainees first performed it in the non-obstetric population.

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