THE AMERICAN-EUROPEAN CONSENSUS CONFERENCE ON ARDS - DEFINITIONS, MECHANISMS, RELEVANT OUTCOMES, AND CLINICAL-TRIAL COORDINATION

The acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a process of nonhydros tatic pulmonary edema and hypoxemia associated with a variety of etiol ogies, carries a high morbidity, mortality (10 to 90%), and financial cost. The reported annual incidence in the United States is 150,000 ca ses, but this figure has been challenged, and it may be different in E urope. Part of the reason for these uncertainties are the heterogeneit y of diseases underlying ARDS and the lack of uniform definitions for ARDS. Thus, those who wish to know the true incidence and outcome of t his clinical syndrome are stymied. The American-European Consensus Com mittee on ARDS was formed to focus on these issues and on the pathophy siologic mechanisms of the process. It was felt that international coo rdination between North America and Europe in clinical studies of ARDS was becoming increasingly important in order to address the recent pl ethora of potential therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatmen t of ARDS.