APRV is indicated for which type of lung condition?

• A. Unilateral Pneumonia
• B. Bilateral Lung Disease
• C. Asthma
• D. Pulmonary Embolism

Answer: (B)

APRV is a ventilation approach designed to keep the lungs recruited and oxygenating well in diffuse, bilateral lung injury such as ARDS. It uses a sustained high airway pressure to recruit and keep alveoli open, with brief releases to permit CO2 elimination, and allows the patient to breathe spontaneously between those releases. This pattern works best when disease involves both lungs, because the continuous recruitment and higher mean airway pressure improve gas exchange across widespread, bilateral diseased areas.

In unilateral problems, like a single-lobe pneumonia, the benefit is limited and the pressure strategy can risk overdistending normal lung regions or misaligning ventilation with perfusion. Asthma is primarily an obstructive process with air trapping, where APRV can be challenging to manage safely. Pulmonary embolism is a vascular issue; while ventilation supports gas exchange, APRV isn’t an indication driven by embolism itself. So the choice describing bilateral lung disease best captures the typical indication for APRV.