diagnosing ARDS


Diagnosis and definition for ARDS

  • ARDS is diagnosed as acute onset (less than a week) of bilateral noncardiogenic pulmonary edema in setting of PEEP.
  • Mild, moderate, severe ARDS are defined by PaO2 to FiO2 ratio
    • P/F 200<300 is mild
    • P/F 100<200 is moderate and sometimes called moderately severe
    • P/F <100 is severe
  • You can have ARDS without apparent hypoxemia (high SpO2 and high FiO2). For example, SpO2 94% at FiO2 0.5 is moderate ARDS