ABSTRACT
Soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), an important adhesion molecule that mediates leukocyte-endothelial interaction, has been identified as a marker for the outcome of acute respiratory tract infection. We postulate that plasma ICAM-1 may be a valuable marker for both biological and clinical severity of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Sixteen pediatric patients (> 1 month and < 15 years of age) diagnosed with ARDS were recruited from the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at King Chulalongkorn Memorial University Hospital, Bangkok. The patients were randomized to receive either high frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) or conventional mechanical ventilation. Plasma sICAM-1 was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on days 1, 3, 5 and 7 of ARDS. Plasma sICAM-1 levels in survivors and non-survivors of the HFOV and conventional treatment groups were compared. Nine and 7 patients constituted the control group receiving conventional treatment and HFOV group, respectively. Overall nine patients survived. The patients in the HFOV group had a better chance of survival compared to the controls (71% versus 31.5%), but it was not statistically significant (p = 0.2). The overall mortality was 45.7%. The mean plasma sICAM-1 levels (n = 13/16) were significantly elevated among non-survival patients as compared to survival patients at all time points, which indicates that an unfavorable outcome in ARDS is related to the degree of epithelial and endothelial alveolar cell injury. The elevation of plasma slCAM-1 on day 3 provided the best predictor of mortality (likelihood ratio 11.9, p < 0.001). It was concluded that HFOV facilitated a potentially better outcome compared to conventional treatment and it was associated with less lung injuries evidenced by lower plasma sICAM-1.