title: Open lung biopsy in nonresolving ARDS frequently identifies diffuse alveolar damage regardless of the severity stage and may have implications for patient management.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to assess the rate of diffuse alveolar damage (DAD) on open lung biopsy (OLB) performed in the ICU for nonresolving ARDS.
  
  
  METHODS
  A single-center retrospective study of patients meeting the Berlin definition criteria for ARDS who had undergone OLB for nonresolving ARDS. Patients were classified into mild, moderate and severe ARDS categories and according to the presence or absence of DAD on the OLB. The ARDS categories were assessed at baseline and at the time of the OLB. The OLBs were reviewed by two pathologists blinded to the ARDS classification. The primary endpoint was the rate of DAD according to the ARDS stage in the patients with nonresolving ARDS who had OLB. The secondary endpoint was the ability of DAD to predict ARDS among all the patients who had OLB. The same clinico-histopathological confrontation was cross validated in another ICU.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From January 1998 to August 2013, 113 patients underwent OLB for acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, 83 of whom met the inclusion criteria for ARDS. At the time the OLB was performed, 11 of these patients had mild, 56 moderate, and 16 severe ARDS, respectively. The median (1st-3rd quartiles) time to OLB was 13 (10-18) and 9 (6-14) days from the onset of respiratory symptoms and from ARDS onset, respectively, with no statistical difference between the three ARDS groups. DAD was found in 48 (58 %) patients with ARDS, 4 (36 %) in the mild, 33 (59 %) in the moderate, and 11 (69 %) in the severe stage (P = 0.23). For the 113 patients who underwent OLB, the sensitivity and specificity of DAD to the Berlin definition was 0.58 (0.46-0.69) and 0.73 (0.54-0.88), respectively. Similar results were found in the other ICU.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DAD is present in the majority of patients with nonresolving ARDs and its frequency is no different across the three ARDS stages. On this basis, the systematic use of steroids in nonresolving ARDS is not recommended.
authors.affiliation: Service de Réanimation Médicale, Hôpital de la Croix Rousse, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Université de Lyon, 103 Grande Rue de la Croix-Rousse, 69004, Lyon, France, claude.guerin@chu-lyon.fr.
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guerin
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bayle
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leray
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Debord
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stoian
authors.forename: Hodane
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yonis
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Roudaut
authors.forename: Gael
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bourdin
authors.forename: Mojgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Devouassoux-Shisheboran
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bucher
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ayzac
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lantuejoul
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Philipponnet
authors.forename: Jean Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kemeny
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Souweine
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Richard
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity