ARDS, ALI, Mechanical Ventilation, and Weaning

Mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure is a routine aspect of patient treatment in the ICU. Transthoracic ultrasonography offers several important advantages as a diagnostic imaging technique for several important pulmonary conditions such as acute lung injury and its more severe subset acute respiratory distress syndrome. The application of mechanical ventilation and subsequent weaning changes the normal ventilatory mechanism and produces alterations in cardiac preload and afterload.