Long Term Outcome on Brain and Lung of Different Oxygen Strategies in ARDS Patients

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a serious disease with high mortality. In patients who survive ARDS, respiratory, neurological and motor sequelae are frequent, negatively impacting on the patient's quality of life, and engendering substantial healthcare costs (rehabilitation, long-term care, delayed return to work). There may also be repercussions on the patient's family and entourage. The severity of ARDS and the burden it represents have underpinned intensive research to identify treatment strategies that could improve mortality. However, it is important to ensure that any improvement in mortality does not come at the price of an excess of sequelae and disability in survivors. The oxygenation strategy used to treat ARDS may have an impact on mortality in these patients. The CLOSE study, in which our group participated, recently demonstrated the feasibility of two oxygenation strategies in intensive care unit (ICU) patients with ARDS. We have also initiated the LOCO-2 study (NCT02713451), whose aim is to show a reduction in mortality in ARDS using a "conservative" oxygenation strategy (PaO2 maintained between 55 and 70 mmHg) as compared to a classical "liberal" oxygenation strategy (PaO2 between 90 and 105 mmHg). The LTO-BLOXY study is a substudy of the on-going LOCO-2 study