Determinants of noninvasive ventilation success or failure in morbidly obese patients in acute respiratory failure.

Purpose: Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is a common life-threatening complication in morbidly obese patients with obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS). We aimed to identify the determinants of noninvasive ventilation (NIV) success or failure for this indication.

Methods: We prospectively included 76 consecutive patients with BMI>40 kg/m2 diagnosed with OHS and treated by NIV for ARF in a 15-bed ICU of a tertiary hospital.