acute respiratory distress syndrome

noun

: respiratory failure of sudden onset in adults or children that follows injury to the endothelium of the lung (as in sepsis, chest trauma, massive blood transfusion, aspiration of the gastric contents, or pneumonia) and results in the accumulation of protein-rich fluid and the collapse of alveoli leading to difficult, rapid breathing and very low levels of oxygen in the blood

—abbreviation ARD

called also adult respiratory distress syndrome

Examples of acute respiratory distress syndrome in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If untreated, malaria can progress to become a severe disease, leading to complications including seizures, kidney failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, coma and potentially death. —Time, 27 June 2023

Their lungs can become inflamed, causing a dangerous condition called acute respiratory distress syndrome. —Mike Stobbe, The Denver Post, 11 Apr. 2020

Of those patients, 36,367 developed one or more complications during their hospitalization, including kidney problems, complex respiratory disease (such as bacterial pneumonia), acute respiratory distress syndrome, neurological problems (like seizures or stroke) and heart problems. —Erin Schumaker, ABC News, 15 July 2021

People who are most at-risk for severe disease or complications from babesiosis—which can include thrombocytopenia, renal failure, and acute respiratory distress syndrome—are those who:2 Do not have a spleen Have a weakened immune system or are immunocompromised. —Brian Mastroianni, Health, 27 Mar. 2023

While their immune suppression apparently limits the risk of life-threatening pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome, these lingering infections make these individuals veritable variant generators. —Nigel Paneth, STAT, 6 Feb. 2023

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and acute respiratory distress syndrome, the lung disease caused by the coronavirus, came a wave of uncertainties about the kinds of long-term health effects of the disease after patients leave the hospital. —Cassidy Morrison, Washington Examiner, 11 June 2020

Older or immunocompromised people are most vulnerable to severe outcomes like low blood platelet counts, kidney failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome, in which fluid builds up in the lungs. —Aria Bendix, NBC News, 16 Mar. 2023

Another major concern when a person has a cardiac arrest is damage to the lungs, a severe injury called acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. —Gina Kolata, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

acute respiratory distress syndrome

noun

: respiratory failure of sudden onset in adults or children that follows injury to the endothelium of the lung (as in sepsis, chest trauma, massive blood transfusion, aspiration of the gastric contents, or pneumonia) with the accumulation of protein-rich fluid and the collapse of alveoli leading to difficult, rapid breathing and very low levels of oxygen in the blood

The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has been recognized for more than 30 years as a severe form of acute respiratory failure. Patients with this disorder are critically ill, require mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU), and have a high mortality, ranging from 35% to 50% in recent reports.

—Harriet Kitzman et al., The Journal of the American Medical Association

A relatively simple method of improving oxygenation in a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome … is to place the patient in the prone position

—James W. Leatherman et al., Scientific American Medicine Bulletin

—abbreviation ARDS

called also adult respiratory distress syndrome