The February 27, 2020 Department of Internal Medicine Medical Grand Rounds “Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS),” was presented by Marc Moss, MD, Roger S. Mitchell Professor of Medicine; head, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) “has been defined in a variety of different ways,” explained Moss. “Importantly, it is a syndrome and that means that we define it based on clinical criteria.” In 2012, the Berlin definition was created to streamline the diagnosis.

“What this new definition showed is that you can have new variations of ARDS based on hypoxemia, mild, moderate, or severe. In addition, you don’t need to be intubated for mild ARDS.”

How well do physicians do with identifying the disease? Moss cited a 2016 JAMA study which showed that ARDS is common in intensive care units (ICU) around the world, and almost 25% of patients on mechanical ventilation will meet criteria for ARDS.

The disease is underrecognized by physicians and healthcare professionals. Of the patients with ARDS, only 60% had documentation in their chart that they actually had ARDS.

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