Synchronized nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (SNIPPV) decreases work of breathing (WOB) in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) compared to nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP).

Synchronized nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (SNIPPV) is non-invasive respiratory support that delivers ventilator breaths via the nasal prongs. We hypothesized that SNIPPV is more effective than nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) in premature neonates due to decreased work of breathing (WOB). Fifteen infants (BW: 1,367 +/- 325 g, GA: 29.

Work of breathing during nasal continuous positive airway pressure in preterm infants: a comparison of bubble vs variable-flow devices.

Objective: To compare work of breathing and breathing asynchrony during bubble nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) vs variable-flow (VF)-NCPAP in premature infants.

Study Design: We studied 18 premature infants of birth weight <1500 g who required NCPAP for mild respiratory distress. Each infant was studied on bubble and VF-NCPAP at 8, 6, 4, and 0 cm H2O.

Changes in lung volume and work of breathing: A comparison of two variable-flow nasal continuous positive airway pressure devices in very low birth weight infants.

Variable flow nasal continuous positive airway pressure (VF-NCPAP) recruits lung volume more effectively and reduces work of breathing (WOB) compared to constant-flow NCPAP (CF-NCPAP) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. Because different VF-NCPAP devices have somewhat different flow patterns, whether different VF-NCPAP devices function similarly is unknown. We compared two VF-NCPAP devices: the Infant Flow trade mark (EME, Ltd.

Spectral characteristics of airway opening and chest wall tidal flows in spontaneously breathing preterm infants.

We compared the harmonic content of tidal flows measured simultaneously at the mouth and chest wall in spontaneously breathing very low birth weight infants (n = 16, 1,114 +/- 230 g, gestation age: 28 +/- 2 wk). Airway opening flows were measured via face mask-pneumotachograph (P-tach), whereas chest wall flows were derived from respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) excursions. Next, for each, we computed two spectral shape indexes: 1) harmonic distortion (k(d); k(d,P-tach) and k(d,RIP), respectively) defines the extent to which flows deviated from a single sine wave, and 2) the exponent of the power law (s; s(P-tach) and s(RIP), respectively), describing the spectral energy vs.

Optimal high-frequency oscillatory ventilation settings by nonlinear lung mechanics analysis.

Use of nontidal high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) while the lungs are expanded by an imposed airway pressure (P(aw)) in neonates is increasingly based on evidence of decreased risk of lung injury. However, an objective method to optimize P(aw) is lacking. We measured lung volume changes (deltaV(L)[t]) via respiratory inductance plethysmography over a range of P(aw) settings in five piglets before and after lung lavage.