Acute Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure
This diagnosis implies that a person’s oxygen requirements or respiratory status has progressed beyond low-level support and commonly leads to transfer to the ICU for more aggressive interventions. In this spectrum of disease, one of the most severe clinical circumstances is referred to as ARDS. In this situation, the patient oftentimes needs mechanical or noninvasive ventilator support, their oxygen saturation requires high-level of oxygen supplementation (at times 100% oxygen), and it occurs in the absence of congestive heart failure. A common cause for progression to ARDS is pneumonia.