The Montreux definition of neonatal ARDS: biological and clinical background behind the description of a new entity.

This Position Paper provides the first consensus definition for neonatal ARDS (called the Montreux definition), and provides expert consensus that mechanisms causing ARDS in adults and older children-namely complex surfactant dysfunction, lung tissue inflammation, loss of lung volume, increased shunt, and diffuse alveolar damage-are also present in several critical neonatal respiratory disorders.