What Causes Respiratory Failure?
Underlying Problem | Cause |
|---|---|
Abnormality of the chest wall | A chest wound, deformities resulting from chest surgery, injury, morbid obesity, or scoliosis |
Abnormality of lung tissue | Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a reaction to a medication or illicit drug pneumonia, pulmonary edema (excess fluid in the lungs) due to heart failure or kidney failure, pulmonary fibrosis, radiation, sarcoidosis, or widespread tumors |
Airflow obstruction | Asthma, bronchiectasis, bronchiolitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, or inhaled foreign objects |
Muscle weakness | Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), certain strokes, Guillain-Barré syndrome, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, polio, polymyositis, or spinal cord injury |
Poor breathing (decrease in the drive to breathe) | Intoxication with alcohol, illicit drugs, or a medication, hypothyroidism, obesity, or sleep apnea |