Scott K. Epstein

TL;DR: Survival among mechanically ventilated patients depends not only on the factors present at the start of mechanical ventilation, but also on the development of complications and patient management in the intensive care unit.

TL;DR: Noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation does not prevent the need for reintubation or reduce mortality in unselected patients who have respiratory failure after extubation.

TL;DR: Identifying patients at risk for poor outcomes from extubation failure and instituting alternative care practices may reduce mortality, duration of ICU stay, and need for transfer to a long-term care facility.

TL;DR: The high mortality for those reintubated for nonairway problems indicate that efforts should be preferentially focused on identifying these patients, and the effect of time to reintubsation suggests that identification of patients early after extubation and timely reinstitution of ventilatory support has the potential to reduce the increased mortality associated withextubation failure.

TL;DR: Comorbid conditions, older age, and sepsis etiology are independent predictors of hospital death in exclusively MICU patients with ALI (76% of whom satisfied criteria for ARDS).