Changes of extravascular lung water as an independent prognostic factor for early developed ARDS in severely burned patients

An important feature of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is fluid lost into the interstitium of lung combined with its compromised reabsorption, resulting in the elevation of extravascular lung water (EVLW). Although ARDS is known as an early, common, and life-threatening complication in major burns, the issue of whether or how the EVLW index (EVLWI) correlates with its prognosis has not been identified yet. In this retrospectively study, 121 severely burned adults with ARDS occurred in 2 weeks postburn were analyzed and divided into two groups: survivors (73 patients) and nonsurvivors (48 patients) according to the 28-day outcome after injury. Compared with nonsurvivors, survivors exhibited bigger EVLWI reduction in day 2 after ARDS onset (DeltaEVLWI2), with no differences in ARDS timing and other EVLWI variables. DeltaEVLWI2, rather than EVLWI on 2 days after ARDS onset, was identified as an independent prognostic factor even after adjusting other significant factors by Cox proportional hazard analysis. ROC curve analysis showed that DeltaEVLWI2 [AUC = 0.723, 95% CI = (0.631-0.816), P 1.9 ml/kg (log-rank test: chi 2 =14.780, P < .001). Taken together, our study demonstrated that DeltaEVLWI2 is an independent prognostic factor for early ARDS in severe burns. DeltaEVLWI2 higher than 1.9 ml/kg might predict a higher survival rate in those patients.