Gordon R. Bernard

TL;DR: The addition of albumin to furosemide therapy in hypoproteinemic patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome significantly improves oxygenation, with greater net negative fluid balance and better maintenance of hemodynamic stability.

TL;DR: The workshop assessed the current state of clinical research addressing ALI, identified research needs, and recommended: continued performance of trials evaluating treatments of patients with ALI; development of strategies to perform ALI prevention trials; and development of a standardized format for reporting methods, endpoints, and results of ALI trials.

TL;DR: The American-European Consensus Committee on ARDS was formed to re-evaluate the standards for the ICU care of patients with acute lung injury (ALI), with regard to ventilatory strategies, the more promising pharmacologic agents, and the definition and quantification of pathological features of ALI that require resolution.

TL;DR: Drotrecogin alfa (activated) demonstrated significant improvements in organ function compared with placebo in a large phase 3 clinical trial that has shown a mortality benefit in patients with severe sepsis.

TL;DR: The administration of drotrecogin alfa (activated) to patients with severe sepsis was associated with a significant survival benefit that tended to increase with higher baseline likelihood of death, and the increased absolute risk of experiencing a serious bleeding event with treatment did not seem to vary according to the baseline predicted risk of mortality.