Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients despite advancements in the field. Mechanical ventilatory strategies are a vital component of ARDS management to prevent secondary lung injury and improve patient outcomes. Multiple strategies including utilization of low tidal volumes, targeting low plateau pressures to minimize barotrauma, using low FiO2 (fraction of inspired oxygen) to prevent injury related to oxygen free radicals, optimization of positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) to maintain or improve lung recruitment, and utilization of prone ventilation have been shown to decrease morbidity and mortality. The role of other mechanical ventilatory strategies like non-invasive ventilation, recruitment maneuvers, esophageal pressure monitoring, determination of optimal PEEP, and appropriate patient selection for extracorporeal support is not clear. In this article, we review evidence-based mechanical ventilatory strategies and ventilatory adjuncts for ARDS.

Burnside Butler syndrome or 15q11.2 microdeletion syndrome is a relatively rare chromosomal abnormality that is recently being recognized. Current diagnostic techniques like chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) have profoundly contributed to currently reported cases. The diagnostic dilemma is that prenatal screening and karyotype analysis typically yield unclear results. We would like to emphasize the importance of taking a detailed family history, knowing the classic clinical features, and using CMA to help diagnose this syndrome. We present an eight-year-old Caucasian female with a past medical history of intrauterine growth restriction, microcephaly, a high arched palate, speech delay, and a learning disability with recurrent bleeding from the eyes and oral cavity. The bleeding co-occurs whenever she develops the common cold.

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