<prompt> Please answer with one of the option in the bracket. Write reasoning in between . Write answer in between .Q:A 94-year-old woman is brought to the emergency department after she was found unresponsive and febrile at her home. Her son reports that she had an acute episode of coughing while having breakfast the day before. Six days after admission, the patient develops progressive tachypnea and a gradual decrease in oxygen saturation, despite ventilation with supplemental oxygen. Physical examination shows coarse bilateral breath sounds. An x-ray of the chest shows opacities in all lung fields. Despite appropriate care, the patient dies two days later. A photomicrograph of a specimen of the lung obtained at autopsy is shown. This patients pulmonary condition is most likely associated with which of the following pathophysiologic changes?? A: Increased pulmonary shunt fraction, B: Increased pulmonary wedge pressure, C: Increased mixed venous oxygen saturation, D: Increased pulmonary compliance, E: Decreased pulmonary artery pressuren,  <response>: This is a medical question asking about the pathophysiologic changes associated with the clinical presentation described in the stem. The key details are that the patient is an elderly woman who developed coughing, fever, respiratory distress and hypoxemia several days after an acute coughing episode. Chest x-ray showed diffuse opacities suggestive of pneumonia. Autopsy showed lung pathology consistent with diffuse alveolar damage. The choices describe different pulmonary pathophysiologic changes. Based on the clinical presentation of acute respiratory distress syndrome ARDS following pneumonia in an elderly patient, the pathology is most consistent with diffuse alveolar damage leading to increased intrapulmonary shunting and hypoxemia.A: Increased pulmonary shunt fraction 