High Airway Pressure and Dynamic Strain on Ventilator-Induced Lung Injury in Critically ill ICU Patients

Severe systemic inflammation and shock can result in the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which remains a serious clinical problem associated with an unacceptably high mortality. Acute respiratory distress syndrome causes a heterogeneous lung injury with normal and acutely injured lung tissue in the same lung. Heterogeneous lung injury is a hallmark of ARDS pathophysiology, which can cause excessive alveolar strain leading to cellular damage in alveoli. The lung with heterogeneous injury becomes exceedingly difficult to ventilate without causing a secondary VILI, since the airway pressure necessary to open acutely injured alveoli is far greater than that necessary to open normal alveoli. Improperly adjusted mechanical ventilation can exacerbate ARDS causing a secondary ventilator-induced lung injury.

The goal of this research topic is the identification of novel ventilation strategies in ARDS patients with Heterogenous lung injuries is to improve survival rates by understanding the underlying lung molecular mechanisms.

Key areas of focus include:
(1) mechanistic understanding of lung protection using a ventilation strategy combining APRV;
(2) understanding the molecular mechanisms and markers of inflammations.

This Research Topic accepts multiple article types, and has a scope aiming on Ventilation Strategies and ARDS.