[Acute respiratory distress].

Acute respiratory distress is a common cause of emergency admission to hospital. Clinicians may face difficulties in terms of diagnosis (etiology), especially in older subjects, often presenting with multiple medical conditions. The Brain Natriuretic Peptid (BNP) assay is an interesting new diagnostic tool in this context, since it differentiates pulmonary dyspnea from pulmonary edema in these patients. However, this laboratory examination should be used with discretion and analyzed according to the clinical setting to avoid possible false positive results. Symptomatic treatment of respiratory distress (oxygen therapy and/or respiratory support) is essential. Except from some clearly identified medical conditions (for instance cardiogenic pulmonary edema in hypertensive subjects, acute asthma attacks or tension pneumothorax), the effect of a specific treatment is often limited, at least in terms of immediate outcome.