Table 4.
Causes of acute respiratory failure in patients with cancer[35]
| CNS and neuromuscular disorders | Chest wall and pleural disorders | Vascular disorders | Airway disorders | Parenchymal disorders | 
| Drug intoxications: Narcotics; Sedatives; Neuroleptics | Pleural disorder: Malignant pleural effusion; Pleural tumor (primary or metastatic); Tension pneumothorax | Acute pulmonary embolism; Tumor embolism; Pulmonary venooclusive disease | Airway obstruction: Endobronchial metastases; External airway compression; Primary tumor of periglottic area | Pneumonitis: Infection; Chemotherapy; Radiotherapy; Aspiration | 
| Encephalopathies: Infection; Metabolic; Seizure | Chest wall disorders: Chest wall tumor (primary or metastatic); Rib fracture | Others: Tracheoesophageal fistula; Bronchiolitis obliterans | Acute respiratory distress syndrome: Infection; Chemotherapy; Radiotherapy; Transfusion | |
| Intracranial tumors: Primary; Metastatic | Complications of HSCT: Peri-engraftment respiratory distress syndrome; Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage; Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome | |||
| Neuropathies/myopathies: Nerve palsy | Others: Lymphangitic carcinomatosis; Pulmonary leukostasis; Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia | |||
| Paraneoplastic syndromes: Eaton-Lambert syndrome; Myasthenia gravis; Guillain-Barré syndrome | 
CNS: Central nervous system; HSCT: Hematopoietic stem cell transplant.