History of acute respiratory distress syndrome: from Laennec to COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

In 1967, Ashbaugh et al. reported a series of 12 patients having respiratory failure caused by various trigger but sharing similar features such as refractory hypoxemia to oxygen therapy, low respiratory system compliance and bilateral pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiography. The authors demonstrated the beneficial effects of high positive end-expiratory pressure in improving oxygenation. This syndrome was first named "adult respiratory distress syndrome", and later renamed "acute respiratory distress syndrome" (ARDS) to be also applied to children. Since its first description, significant progress has been made regarding the diagnosis and the management of this syndrome. In this review, we present in a chronological order the major steps that resulted to the “discovery” of ARDS. We also describe several related concepts including the “baby lung”, ventilator induced lung injury, or lung protective ventilation. Finally, we review major randomized controlled trials of treatments for ARDS.