Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

This book covers all clinical aspects of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), from definition to treatment, focusing on the more recent recommendations and evidence-based medicine. The addressed topics are the various ventilation strategies, the impact of prone positioning, the use of partial and total extracorporeal support, the value of vasodilators, the weaning from mechanical ventilation, the pharmacological interventions, noninvasive ventilation, and the strategies using anti-inflammatory agents and stem cells. Furthermore, different related topics are also discussed, such as lung imaging, sedation, metabolic support, and hemodynamic instability. A concluding chapter specifically addresses ARDS in children. This up-to-date volume, written by experts in the field, will be of value for all health care practitioners seeking state of the art on the management of patients with this complex syndrome.

Davide Chiumello, MD, is an intensivist in the Department of Anesthesia, Intensive Care, and Pain Therapy at Fondazione IRCCS – Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, Milan, Italy. Dr. Chiumello’s research work has focused on understanding the pathological and clinical aspects of acute respiratory distress syndrome; he has a particular interest in respiratory physiology, esophageal pressure, lung recruitment, lung imaging, ventilator-induced lung injury, the prone position, controlled and assisted mechanical ventilation, and non-invasive ventilation. Since 2009 he has been Editor-in-Chief of Minerva Anestesiologica (official journal of Societa Italiana di Analgesia, Anestesia e Terapia Intensiva) and he is also a member of the editorial board of Critical Care Medicine (official journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine). He is a reviewer for a number of international journals and since 2013 has been Editor of the Respiratory Failure section for PACT (Patient-Centred Acute Care Training) of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine. Dr. Chiumello is the author of more than 100 scientific articles and a number of chapters in medical textbooks (H-index 24).