Epidemiology

Internal medicine

ARDS

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Pharmacotherapy

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Pandemic

Intensive care medicine

Mechanical ventilation

Lung

Acute respiratory distress

Medicine

The Lancet

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an acute respiratory illness characterised by bilateral chest radiographical opacities with severe hypoxaemia due to non-cardiogenic pulmonary oedema. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in ARDS and highlighted challenges associated with this syndrome, including its unacceptably high mortality and the lack of effective pharmacotherapy. In this Seminar, we summarise current knowledge regarding ARDS epidemiology and risk factors, differential diagnosis, and evidence-based clinical management of both mechanical ventilation and supportive care, and discuss areas of controversy and ongoing research.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome