[Acute lung failure--a critical analysis].

The Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a clinical syndrome with acute progressive lung function deterioration based on increased pulmonary permeability and caused mostly by non-pulmonary lesions (like sepsis or polytrauma), occasionally also by pulmonary diseases (like pneumonia) or intoxications (e.g. by paraquat). In the complex, interactive pathomechanisms (e.g. complement activation, stimulation of the arachidonate metabolism) with release of numerous damaging mediators the massive accumulation of neutrophils in the lung plays an important role.