A rapid onset of respiratory failure caused by the inability of the lungs to perform normal gas exchange because. Symptoms include breathlessness, tachypnea and hypoxemia. May be caused by breathing in a foreign body, cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, gram-negative sepsis, multiple blood transfusions, oxygen toxicity, trauma, pneumonia or respiratory infections. Also called acute respiratory distress syndrome, congestive atelectasis, pump lung, shock lung, wet lung or adult respiratory distress syndrome.