The adult respiratory distress syndrome.

The Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome is a complication of many illnesses such as sepsis, pneumonia and trauma afflicting over 150,000 patients per year. While progress in intensive care medicine has increased the survival rates in many of these underlying illnesses, major obstacles remain in the successful therapy of ARDS. Animal and human investigations shed light on the pathophysiology of the illness that is allowing researchers to formulate promising new treatment strategies.