Pulmonary Puzzler 340
Collapse and recruit

A 19 year old male is admitted after a severe traumatic brain injury. Due to refractory intracranial hypertension he is intubated and receiving 20mg an hour of morphine, 20mg an hour of midazolam and 200mg an hour of propofol.

Pulmonary Puzzler 340
Rapid descent

A 30 year old male presents with a 3 day history of fevers and increasing breathlessness. On presentation he is noted to be severely hypoxic with sats of 80% on room air. The following chest X-ray is obtained:

Pulmonary Puzzler 340
Ballooning Up

A 36 year-old immunosuppressed male was infected with swine-origin influenza virus requiring mechanical ventilation. Overnight the inspiratory pressures needed to maintain his tidal volume had progressively increased and his face had become markedly swollen.