Follow-up respiratory function of a patient treated with a membrane lung.

A patient in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukemia developed the adult respiratory distress syndrome. Despite "optimal respiratory therapy" and ventilatory assistance with 100 per cent inspired O2 (fraction of inspired O2 = 1) and 15 cm of positive end-expiratory pressure, the patient's arterial PO2 remained at 33 mm Hg. Prepulmonary venovenous respiratory support was given for 10 days with a spiral coil membrane lung. The data document the sequential improvement in respiratory function and suggest that despite the severe lung damage that may occur during the adult respiratory distress syndrome treated with prolonged high inspired concentration of O2, if the patient's lungs recover from the acute process, the respiratory system can recover so that there is little, if any, permanent restriction of the subject's activities as a result of respiratory impairment.