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.

Conclusion

ARDS was frequent in ICU in Beijing, the mortality remains high, and there is no tendency to decline in recent years.