Question

By which of the following criteria can one diagnose acute respiratory distress (pediatric ARDS) in a child?

• A. Within 7 days of known clinical insult
• B. Respiratory failure not fully explained by cardiac failure
• C. Left ventricular dysfunction excluded as sole cause
• D. All of the above

Hint:

Pediatric ARDS is a bundle: timing within 7 days plus exclusion of a purely cardiac cause.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Paediatric ARDS (PALICC 2015) is defined by a set of criteria that must be met together, not by a single feature. Step 2: The timing criterion requires onset within 7 days of a known clinical insult (option a). Step 3: The origin-of-oedema criterion requires that respiratory failure and hypoxaemia are not fully explained by cardiac failure or fluid overload, and that the deterioration in oxygenation is not explained by left ventricular dysfunction alone (options b and c). Step 4: Because all three statements are part of the same definition, the correct answer is all of the above (option d). Chest imaging showing new infiltrate and an oxygenation index are also part of the full criteria.