Arterial Oxygenation Does Not Predict the Outcome of Patients with Acute Respiratory Failure Needing Mechanical Ventilation

Outcome from mechanical ventilation

“…The study by JIMENEZ et al [3] is in agreement with previous studies, indicating that the prognosis in patients requiring mechanical ventilation is determined by three major factors: 1. The cause of mechanical ventilation.…”

“…In this issue of the Journal, JIMENEZ et al [3] evaluated the outcome of 118 patients, 76 being ventilated for more than 72 h. Thirty three (28%) of these patients died. In the population studied, the best predictors of outcome were the number of associated complications and the degree of severity of the disease, as assessed by the simplified acute physiology score (SAPS), the degree of hypoxaemia, and the age of the patients.…”

“…One should emphasize that the study by JIMENEZ et al [3], like those of others [4][5][6][7][8], included a mixture of underlying diseases, and the prognosis may be different in adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and in other diseases. The present study included more than one third of postsurgical and traumatized patients, whose prognosis is known to be good [8], and only 8% of patients with ARDS.…”

Incidence and short-term outcome of acute lung injury in mechanically ventilated children

“…This suggests that the initial trigger negatively influences further organ dysfunction and final outcome. One paediatric study on AHRF and multiple adult studies showed that underlying diseases, such as cerebral dysfunction and immune disorders, have a greater impact on outcome than respiratory failure alone [7,18,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. These findings suggest that ALI may be more a symptom than a limiting disease.…”

“…One of the most frequently studied indices is the Pa,O 2 / FI,O 2 , although contradictory results concerning its ability to predict outcome have been reported in adult AHRF/ARDS [2,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]. Some authors have argued that the ratio may not be predictive at inclusion, but after 24 or 48 h [30,31].…”