An Early PEEP/F i O2 Trial Identifies Different Degrees of Lung Injury in Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

Patients meeting current American-European Consensus Conference ARDS criteria may have highly variable levels of lung injury and outcomes. A systematic method of assessing severity of lung injury is required for enrollment of patients with ARDS into randomized controlled trials. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 00435110).