History
of the Memphis Lung Research Program
Our investigators
have been studying ARDS since 1989 at the University of Tennessee Health
Science Center at Memphis, Tennessee. Our early investigations concentrated
on monitoring the natural history of ARDS, during which time the important
observation was made that steroid rescue therapy appeared to be helpful
in resolving ARDS. This was an important discovery because other investigators
had disputed that steroids worked to treat ARDS. We found that how long
a patient had ARDS at the start of treatment, the dosage of steroids given,
and the length of steroid administration are all important factors in determining
treatment response. During the next phase of our research we completed a
controlled study, which required use of steroids and controls (placebo/no
steroids), in order to prove to the scientific community that our observations
were correct. We found that survival and length of time on a breathing machine
for those with unresolved ARDS (defined as having ARDS for at least 7 days)
who were treated with steroids was much better when compared with those
who did not receive steroids. These results were published in the July 1998
issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. This was a very
important study and has changed treatment for many ARDS patients.
