Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Critically Ill Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

The authors describe clinical and epidemiologic data for 199 patients hospitalized with SARS. Nineteen of 24 ICU deaths occurred a week or later after ICU admission (and were linked to other complications, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The authors hypothesize that differences in the virulence of varied strains and viral load may be related to the likelihood of developing a severe ARDS and suggest aggressive early intervention.