Criteria for Identifying Lung Injury Prior to the Need for Positive Pressure Ventilation

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov March 23, 2018

Mortality associated with acute lung injury (ALI) remains high. Early identification of ALI prior to onset of respiratory failure may provide a therapeutic window to target in future clinical trials. This study empirically derived clinical criteria for a novel and pragmatic definition of Early Acute Lung Injury (EALI) based on supplemental oxygen requirement, respiratory rate and baseline immune suppression in patients with bilateral infiltrates on chest radiograph. In this cohort, these criteria identified patients who progressed to ALI requiring positive pressure ventilation with 89% sensitivity and 75% specificity.