Capacidad de difusión pulmonar y calidad de vida a los 6 meses del alta de la unidad de cuidados intensivos en sobrevivientes a síndrome de distrés respiratorio agudo por influenza A H1N1

objective: an evaluation is made of lung function and quality of life 6 months after discharge from the intensive care unit (icu) among survivors of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ards) due to pandemic 2009 influenza a h1n1, based on studies of lung function and the eq-5d health questionnaire. design: case series. setting: the icu of dr. leónidas lucero acute cases municipal hospital, bahía blanca, argentina. patients: patients discharged from the icu who had been admitted with ards in 2009 due to influenza a h1n1. results: eleven patients were studied. seven were positive for influenza h1n1 and four were negative. the mean age was 37±9.5 years, and 73% were males. quality of life, as measured by the eq-5d, showed changes in the 5 components in all patients, particularly in the pain/discomfort dimension 1.55±0.52; health status (eq%health) was 70%±24. the indices adjusted for argentina were time trade off(tto) 0.903±0.085 and visual analog scale (vas) 0.827±0.153. in all patients, spirometry and the study of pulmonary diffusion (dlco) showed values of >80%. there was no correlation between lung diffusion and quality of life (%dlco and eq%health). a correlation was observed between quality of life and tto (eq%health and tto), and between quality of life and the vas score (eq%health and vas). conclusion: although the sample is small, our results suggest that patients with ards due to influenza a h1n1 evaluated 6 months after discharge from the icu show no deterioration of lung function, and the impact on quality of life is moderate-in contrast to the situation found in patients with ards of other etiologies.