Ricerc@Sapienza

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a clinical syndrome characterized by a non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema with bilateral chest X-ray opacities and hypoxemia refractory to oxygen therapy and low level of positive end-expiratory pressure (1).
Recently, a large observational study reported an ARDS prevalence of 10.4% of all ICU admissions and of 23.4% of all subjects receiving mechanical ventilation (2). Despite these alarming numbers, according to the most recent literature, ARDS is still under-recognized, undertreated, and associated with a mortality rate that in the most severe forms is close to 50% (2).