The Complex Interaction between Sepsis and Lung Injury

Sepsis is a major cause of acute lung injury (ALI) and its more severe form, the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) [1, 2]. In addition, sepsis frequently complicates the clinical course of patients with ALI of other etiologies. The most common cause of ALI/ARDS is pneumonia (bacterial, viral or fungal), followed by severe sepsis from pulmonary or non-pulmonary infections [2, 3]. Sepsis accounts for approximately 25 to 40 % of cases of ALI/ARDS, the risk of ALI being especially high in the presence of intense systemic inflammatory response, shock and multiorgan dysfunction. The association of sepsis with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) also increases the risk of progression to ALI/ARDS [3, 4].