“Truly a scientific miracle,” said Mindy Plessinger as she described the plight of a 24-year-old patient at the Adena Medical Center.

When George Colley arrived in the medical center with pneumonia, no one imagined his condition would worsen as it did, quickly and dramatically.

Within minutes, physicians searched frantically for a reason and finally discovered he was suffering from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, or ARDS, a lung condition that typically claims the lives of some 80 percent of its victims.

“Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Saadlla and the RTS and ICU staffs, the young man not only recovered from the condition, but is back to work – as if nothing happened,” said Plessinger, ICU Nurse Manager at Adena.

“He was 24, with very little medical history, and no one thought he would get to the point he did,” she said.

Colley also was the first-ever patient at Adena to be given nitric oxide (NO) as part of his treatment for ARDS, which usually occurs in people who are very ill with another disease or who have major injuries. ARDS can be life threatening because it diminishes the availability of oxygen-rich blood needed for the body’s organs, including the kidneys and brain.

Inhaled nitric oxide is a relatively new U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigational drug and a number of facilities are involved in clinical trials utilizing this gas.

Until approved by the FDA, its use is limited to those facilities that have gone through the application process for drug evaluation and research, and have been granted permission to conduct such studies utilizing NO.

The fact that the young man survived this potentially fatal condition was “amazing,” Plessinger said. The fact that he is working again is “even more amazing,” she added.