Acute Respiratory Distress in a Two-month-old Female

Abstract

A two-month-old female presented to the local emergency department with respiratory distress in the setting of a three-day history of febrile illness with symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. During initial evaluation, she was noted to be lethargic, tachycardic, and tachypneic. She was given fluid resuscitation, and a sepsis evaluation was initiated. However, soon afterward she developed acute hypoxemic respiratory failure with oxygen saturations in the mid to low 80s that were refractory to non-invasive positive pressure ventilation. She subsequently went into cardiac arrest and required five minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation before the return of spontaneous circulation. She was intubated during the resuscitative phase and placed on invasive mechanical ventilatory support. Despite conventional therapy for acute respiratory failure, the patient continued to be hypoxemic, and breath sounds were noted to be asymmetrical. Thus, a chest radiograph was obtained. After stabilization, the patient was referred to a tertiary medical center for further care.

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