Acute respiratory distress syndrome: Definition and phenotypes

Sim Wen Yuan
Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore

This presentation will explore how the definition of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has evolved with time, and address the benefits/limitations of these definitions. ARDS is also a disease that exhibits heterogeneity of treatment effect, i.e. different phenotypes of patients within the umbrella of ARDS respond differently to the same intervention. The presentation will go on to describe the different ways in which ARDS can be phenotyped. While molecular phenotyping is exciting and undoubtedly holds promise, it is not (yet) readily available to the bedside clinician. Hence, the focus will be on the use of more easily accessible physiological/radiological phenotypes to guide management.