Acute respiratory failure and mechanical ventilation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: why a special issue in ICM
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EDITORIAL
Acute respiratory failure and mechanical ventilation in the context of the COVID‑19 pandemic: why a special issue in ICM? Samir Jaber1* , Giuseppe Citerio2 and Arthur S. Slutsky3,4 © 2020 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
Acute respiratory failure is the most common, life-threatening condition in critically ill patients, and is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. As such, respiratory support including standard supplemental oxygen therapy, high flow oxygen therapy (HFOT), non-invasive ventilation (NIV) (with either face mask or helmet), and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) for patients with acute respiratory failure are the most frequently used organ supports in the ICU. Indeed, the widespread use of mechanical ventilation during the polio epidemic is credited with the birth of the intensive care unit. Mechanical ventilation is certainly lifesaving, but as we have learned over the past few decades, it can be associated with several major complications which in turn can be life-threatening. Given the importance of mechanical ventilation to ICU care, it is not surprising that over the years, Intensive Care Medicine (ICM) has published many important articles related to acute respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and mechanical ventilation. This is also the case during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in which ICM has published several notable papers, related to the pathogenesis, pathophysiology, and outcomes of COVID-19 patients. In this special issue of ICM, we invited world leaders in the field of acute respiratory failure and mechanical ventilation to update readers with respect to the most recent advances in the physiopathology, epidemiology and
*Correspondence: s‑jaber@chu‑montpellier.fr 1 Anesthesia and Critical Care Department (DAR‑B), Saint Eloi, University of Montpellier, Research Unit: PhyMedExp, INSERM U‑1046, CNRS, cedex 5, 34295 Montpellier, France Full author information is available at the end of the article
treatment of ICU diseases/illnesses/syndromes which impact respiratory function. The ICM editorial board had been planning this issue of the Journal well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, given that SARS-CoV-2 has such an important impact on the lung, with development of pneumonia, ARDS, and respiratory failure, we expanded the range of topics to address several COVID-19 specific issues. There is no question that the ICU world— and of course, the entire world—will be changed after this crisis. Although, we do not know exactly (or even approximately) when the pandemic will end, this special issue is published in the midst of the crisis with the goal of reporting the most recent knowledge in this evolving field. Although COVID-19 will likely be with us for a number of years in one form or another, COVID-19 patients will represent the minority of ICU patients, other than for defined (hopefully very short) periods of time, and thus most of the articles deal with nonCOVID-19 acute resp
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