Is mechanical ventilation a cure for ARDS?

Excerpt

In general, medical treatment intending to cure a syndrome like the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) should treat the etiology, the pathophysiology, and the symptoms. The cure of the etiology is specifically directed against the disease leading to ARDS. The cure of the pathophysiology is the control of the process by which the causative agent triggers the damage. The cure of the symptoms consists in the treatment of the actual manifestation of the disease. A variety of etiological agents can induce widespread inflammatory processes in the lungs and cause edema (“heavy” lung) either via biological pathways, e.g., bacteria, or by physical means, e.g., acid or smoke. All pathways lead to the symptoms by which we define ARDS. The weight of the lungs, increased by the edema, induces a collapse of the lowermost lung regions. This is responsible for (a) the refractory hypoxemia that results from blood perfusing collapsed or consolidated lung regions and (b) the reduced lung compliance due to the decreased lung volume that can still be ventilated (the baby lung). …