critical care medicine
Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure (AHRF, ARDS)
Etiology of AHRF
Airspace filling in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF) may result from Elevated alveolar capillary hydrostatic pressure, as occurs in Heart Failure (HF) (causing Increased alveolar capillary permeability, as occurs in any of the conditions predisposing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) Blood (as occurs in Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage ) or inflammatory exudates (as occur in Right-to-left intracardiac shunts, in which deoxygenated venous blood bypasses the lungs and enters the systemic circulation, usually occur as a long-term complication of large, untreated left-to-right shunts (eg, from patent foramen ovale, atrial septal defect). This phenomenon is termed Eisenmenger Syndrome . This discussion focuses on refractory hypoxemia due to pulmonary causes. 