Cardiopulmonary responses to Pseudomonas septicemia in swine: an improved model of the adult respiratory distress syndrome.

Bacteremia with resultant damage to multiple organ systems remains a serious problem in intensive care of human patients. We have developed a clinically relevant swine model of sepsis-induced adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Twenty-three animals were given various doses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa intravenously. Low cardiac output septic shock was prevented with massive fluid infusion. It was found that a dose of 1.0 X 10(7) colony forming units per 20 kg/min for 2 hours reliably produced respiratory failure in a setting of hyperdynamic sepsis which meets the diagnostic criteria of human ARDS.