Amyloid associated with elastin-staining laminar aggregates in the lungs of patients diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Background: The heterogeneity of conditions underlying respiratory distress, whether classified clinically as acute lung injury (ALI) or the more severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), has hampered efforts to identify and more successfully treat these patients. Examination of postmortem lungs among cases clinically diagnosed as ARDS identified a cohort that showed a consistent morphology at the light and electron microscope levels, and featured pathognomonic structures which we termed elastin-staining laminar structures (ELS).

Methods: Postmortem tissues were stained using the Verhoeff-Van Gieson procedure for elastic fibers, and with Congo red for examination under a polarizing microscope.