Computerised tomography scan imaging in acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Computerised tomography (CT) is being used with increasing frequency in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients. This brief review will discuss some of the clinical insights that a CT scan can offer. A large number of CT scan studies have provided new insights into the pathophysiology of ARDS and of mechanical ventilation, and are particularly focused on the recruitment-derecruitment phenomenon. To this end, newer fast CT scan technology promises a dynamic, rather than a static view of lung ventilation.