[Epidemiological investigation on acute respiratory distress syndrome occurring in intensive care units in Beijing from 1998 to 2003].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate incidence, causes and mortality of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in intensive care units (ICU) in Beijing.


METHODS
Patients in ICU of eight general hospitals in Beijing from May 1998 to April 2003 were retrospectively studied. ARDS was diagnosed according to the 1994 American-European consensus conference criteria. Results Of 8 482 patients admitted to ICUs in the same period, there were 383 patients (4.5%) diagnosed as having ARDS. Major primary diseases for ARDS were sepsis (21.7%), pneumonia (16.2%), surgical operation (13.1%), acute pancreatitis (12.8%) and multiple severe trauma (10.7%). The mean interval between onset of the primary disease and onset of ARDS was (61.8 +/- 43.7) hours. The overall mortality of ARDS was 52.0%, the mortality adjusted for age (< or =39, 40-64, > or =65 years old) and gender (male) showed significant changes in each year (all P<0.05), but acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II, < or =12, 13-19, > or =20 scores) score showed no significant changes during the 5 years. Septic shock (36.2%) and heart failure (20.6%) were major lethal causes, while only 14.6% died of respiratory failure.


CONCLUSIONS
ARDS was frequent in ICU in Beijing, the mortality remains high, and there is no tendency to decline in recent years.
Ge
Qing-gang
QG
Intensive Care Unit, The Third Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China. qingganggelin@126.com
Zhu
Xi
X
Yao
Gai-qi
GQ
Wang
Chao
C
Yin
Cheng-hong
CH
Lü
Jing-qiao
JQ
Zhang
Shu-wen
SW
D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies