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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staff
The mechanical cause of ARDS is fluid leaked from the smallest blood vessels in the lungs into the tiny air sacs where blood is oxygenated. Normally, a protective membrane keeps this fluid in the vessels. Severe illness or injury, however, can cause inflammation that undermines the membrane's integrity, leading to the fluid leakage of ARDS.
A number of conditions can injure your lungs and lead to inflammation, including:
- Severe viral or bacterial pneumonia
- Infection spreading through your bloodstream (sepsis)
- Heart failure with fluid in your lungs
- Multiple or massive blood transfusions
- A serious head or chest injury
- Fractures of long bones, such as the femur, which can release fat particles that are carried through your bloodstream to your lungs (fat embolism)
- Prolonged use — from several days to a week — of large volumes of supplemental oxygen
- Accidental inhalation of vomit or chemicals, such as ammonia or chlorine
- Smoke inhalation
- Near drowning
- An adverse reaction to cancer drugs or other medications
- Drug overdose, most commonly with heroin
- Inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis)
- Shock from any cause
If possible, it's important to find the cause behind ARDS, because it can determine treatment and can predict your chances for survival. In some cases, though, the cause of ARDS is never found.
- What is ARDS? National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Ards/Ards_WhatIs.html. Accessed March 2, 2009.
- Adult (acute) respiratory distress syndrome. American Lung Association. http://www.lungusa.org/atf/cf/%7B7a8d42c2-fcca-4604-8ade-7f5d5e762256%7D/ALA_LDD08_ARDS_FINAL.PDF. Accessed March 2, 2009.
- Deal EN, et al. Role of corticosteroids in the management of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Clinical Therapeutics. 2008;30:787.
- George KJ. A systematic approach to care: Adult respiratory distress syndrome. Journal of Trauma Nursing. 2008;15:19.
- Zambon M, et al. Mortality rates for patients with acute lung injury/ARDS have decreased over time. Chest. 2008;133:1120.
- Leaver SK, et al. Acute respiratory distress syndrome. BMJ. 2007;335:389.
