Nocturnal non-invasive ventilation in COPD patients with prolonged hypercapnia after ventilatory support for acute respiratory failure: a randomised, controlled, parallel-group study.

Introduction: The effectiveness of non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NIV) in COPD patients with prolonged hypercapnia after ventilatory support for acute respiratory failure (ARF) remains unclear. We investigated if nocturnal NIV in these patients prolongs the time to readmission for respiratory causes or death (primary endpoint) in the following 12 months.

Methods: 201 COPD patients admitted to hospital with ARF and prolonged hypercapnia >48 h after termination of ventilatory support were randomised to NIV or standard treatment.

Forty-Five Years of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in The Netherlands.

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle disease. No curative therapy is currently available, but in recent decades standards of care have improved. These improvements include the use of corticosteroids and mechanical ventilation.

The Severe Respiratory Insufficiency Questionnaire scored best in the assessment of health-related quality of life in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: There are limited data on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure during an admission requiring ventilatory support. The aim was to assess and compare the reliability and validity of the Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire (CRQ), Maugeri Respiratory Failure-28 (MRF-28) Questionnaire, and Severe Respiratory Insufficiency (SRI) Questionnaire in patients with very severe COPD.

Study Design And Setting: One hundred eighty hospitalized patients filled out the CCQ, CRQ, MRF-28, SRI, Groningen Activity Restriction Scale (GARS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Medical Research Council Dyspnea Scale (MRC).