Moving from Inpatient to Outpatient or Home Initiation of Non-Invasive Home Mechanical Ventilation.

Home mechanical ventilation (HMV) is an effective treatment for patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure caused by restrictive or obstructive pulmonary disorders. Traditionally, HMV is initiated in the hospital, nowadays usually on a pulmonary ward. The success of HMV, and especially non-invasive home mechanical ventilation (NIV), has led to a steep and ongoing increase in the incidence and prevalence of HMV, in particular for patients with COPD or obesity hypoventilation syndrome.

Patient-Ventilator Synchronization During Non-invasive Ventilation: A Pilot Study of an Automated Analysis System.

Patient-ventilator synchronization during non-invasive ventilation (NIV) can be assessed by visual inspection of flow and pressure waveforms but it remains time consuming and there is a large inter-rater variability, even among expert physicians. SyncSmart™ software developed by Breas Medical (Mölnycke, Sweden) provides an automatic detection and scoring of patient-ventilator asynchrony to help physicians in their daily clinical practice. This study was designed to assess performance of the automatic scoring by the SyncSmart software using expert clinicians as a reference in patient with chronic respiratory failure receiving NIV.

[Withdrawal of chronic mechanical ventilation at home: coordination, organisation and implementation].

In the Netherlands, an increasing number of patients are dependent on domiciliary ventilation. General practitioners and elderly care physicians caring for these patients are increasingly confronted with problems related to chronic ventilation. Most patients die due to progression of respiratory failure, however, patients may ask their physician to electively withdraw their assisted ventilation.

Respiratory Assessment of ALS Patients: A Nationwide Survey of Current Dutch Practice.

Background And Objective: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an established treatment for respiratory failure in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Several studies have shown room for improvement with regard to respiratory care for ALS patients, including latency of referral. These studies focused on the time period starting at the moment of referral to a home ventilation service (HVS) onwards.

Respiratory Assessment of ALS Patients: A Nationwide Survey of Current Dutch Practice.

Background And Objective: Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an established treatment for respiratory failure in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Several studies have shown room for improvement with regard to respiratory care for ALS patients, including latency of referral. These studies focused on the time period starting at the moment of referral to a home ventilation service (HVS) onwards.