All ARDS Patients 18 years of age and older Intubated, receiving mechanical ventilation Acute onset of respiratory failure (within 48 hours) Bilateral infiltrates on chest-x-ray Absence of clinical evident of left atrial hypertension or (when available) a pulmonary artery wedge pressure< 18 mm Hg PaO2/ FiO2 ratio < 300 Ventilated Negative Control (30 subjects) Mechanically ventilated without evidence of acute lung injury Positive Control (30 subjects) Patients with fibrotic lung disease (FLD) undergoing bronchoscopy and BAL for a clinical indication | Inability to obtain informed consent from patient, next of family or designated surrogate Pregnancy Lung transplantation Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant Uncontrolled shock Uncontrolled tachyarrythmias Uncontrolled hypertension Primary lung cancer or cancer metastatic to lung Uncorrectable coagulopathy |
