Epidemiology of acute respiratory failure

Acute respiratory failure is one of the major causes of consultation in emergency departments and the primary reason for admission to intensive care units. Acute respiratory failure is the key symptom of most cardiac and respiratory diseases, which are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Common etiologies of acute respiratory failure are exacerbations of chronic respiratory diseases, pneumonia, and acute respiratory distress syndrome, followed by cardiac disorders, cerebrovascular accidents, delirium, and nutritional disorders. A reasonable estimate of acute respiratory failure mortality in intensive care units is 41-43%. Acute respiratory failure hospital mortality increases depending on the number of failures in other organs. In the USA, the rate of acute respiratory failure is 2.53/1000 population. In Italy, it is evident an increasing trend of admissions for respiratory failure (2.9% of admissions due to respiratory disease in 1999, 17.3% in 2005). In 2005, respiratory failure was the 13th most common primary diagnosis among the patients admitted for acute disorders.