Journal of critical care
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Journal of critical care · Sep 1996
High-dose furosemide alters gas exchange in a model of acute lung injury.
Furosemide is often used to reduce edema in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). It was hypothesized that furosemide would reduce lung water and improve gas exchange in a phorbol-myristate acetate (PMA) model of acute lung injury. ⋯ In this model of ARDS, which results in the absence of effective kidney function and multiple organ failure, furosemide compromises alveolar-capillary gas exchange and fails to influence the time course of lung water accumulation. The results suggest that the nondiuretic affects of furosemide cannot explain its purported clinical utility in ARDS.