Definitions of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Present Recommendations and Challenges

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is an acute inflammatory process resulting in diffuse lung injury precipitated by an underlying risk factor. However, current definitions may pose barriers to the accurate diagnosis of this syndrome. These include changes in risk factors and associated disease evolution of ARDS, changes in contemporary clinical practice, and access to diagnostic tools required to diagnose ARDS in resource-limited settings. A consensus conference has proposed changes for an expanded global definition of ARDS. In this review article, we review challenges in defining ARDS and present recommendations of the global definition of ARDS.