Holcroft 1986a

Methods	n = 41, 1 centre Allocation concealment: not described Baseline similarity: age, duration of ventilation, sepsis Blinding: caregivers, investigators Cointerventions: one patient in each group received corticosteroids Withdrawals: none Losses to follow‐up: none
Participants	Inclusions: Risk factor for ARDS; mechanical ventilation; bilateral CXR infiltrates, compliance less than or equal to 50 mL/cmH2O, FiO2 at least 0.4 and PEEP at least 5 cmH2O Exclusions: Risk of intracranial haemorrhage; haemodynamic instability
Interventions	Continuous IV PGE1, maximum dose 30 ng/kg/minute (43.2 mcg/kg/day) for 7 days, or placebo
Outcomes	30 day mortality: RR 0.66 (95% CI 0.37 to 1.19) Adverse events leading to discontinuation of therapy: hypotension (treatment: 4/21 patients, control: 1/20); malaise or agitation (treatment: 2/21 patients, control: none)
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	B ‐ Unclear