Home noninvasive ventilation in severe COPD: in whom does it work and how?

Background: Not all hypercapnic COPD patients benefit from home noninvasive ventilation (NIV), and mechanisms through which NIV improves clinical outcomes remain uncertain. We aimed to identify "responders" to home NIV, denoted by a beneficial effect of NIV on arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (), health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and survival, and investigated whether NIV achieves its beneficial effect through an improved .

Methods: We used individual patient data from previous published trials collated for a systematic review.

Sex-specific associations between daytime sleepiness, chronic diseases and mortality in obstructive sleep apnea.

Objective: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is common in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and has been linked to adverse outcomes, albeit inconsistently. Furthermore, whether the prognostic impact of EDS differs as a function of sex is unclear. We aimed to assess the associations between EDS and chronic diseases and mortality in men and women with OSA.

Respiratory Management of Patients With Neuromuscular Weakness: An American College of Chest Physicians Clinical Practice Guideline and Expert Panel Report.

Background: Respiratory failure is a significant concern in neuromuscular diseases (NMDs). This CHEST guideline examines the literature on the respiratory management of patients with NMD to provide evidence-based recommendations.

Study Design And Methods: An expert panel conducted a systematic review addressing the respiratory management of NMD and applied the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations approach for assessing the certainty of the evidence and formulating and grading recommendations.

Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine Position Paper on Patient Sleep During Hospitalization.

This article addresses the issue of patient sleep during hospitalization, which the Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine believes merits wider consideration by health authorities than it has received to date. Adequate sleep is fundamental to health and well-being, and insufficiencies in its duration, quality, or timing have adverse effects that are acutely evident. These include cardiovascular dysfunction, impaired ventilatory function, cognitive impairment, increased pain perception, psychomotor disturbance (including increased fall risk), psychological disturbance (including anxiety and depression), metabolic dysfunction (including increased insulin resistance and catabolic propensity), and immune dysfunction and proinflammatory effects (increasing infection risk and pain generation).

Perioperative outcomes of patients with restless legs syndrome: a single-center retrospective review.

Study Objectives: There are multiple stressors in the perioperative period for patients with restless legs syndrome (RLS) that may be implicated in the worsening of symptoms. Our primary objective was to compare the perioperative course of patients with RLS to patients without the diagnosis.

Methods: This was a single-center, matched-cohort, retrospective chart review of patients with RLS undergoing inpatient procedures from 2015-2019 matched 1:1 with patients without the diagnosis.

Executive Summary: Optimal NIV Medicare Access Promotion: A Technical Expert Panel Report From the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Association for Respiratory Care, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the American Thoracic Society.

The current national coverage determinations (NCDs) for noninvasive ventilation for patients with thoracic restrictive disorders, COPD, and hypoventilation syndromes were formulated in 1998. New original research, updated formal practice guidelines, and current consensus expert opinion have accrued that are in conflict with the existing NCDs. Some inconsistencies in the NCDs have been noted, and the diagnostic and therapeutic technology has also advanced in the last quarter century.

Randomized Controlled Trial of a Novel Communication Device Assessed During Noninvasive Ventilation Therapy.

Background: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV), a form of positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy, is the standard of care for various forms of acute respiratory failure (ARF). Communication impairment is a side effect of NIV, impedes patient care, contributes to distress and intolerance, and potentially increases intubation rates. This study aimed to evaluate communication impairment during CPAP therapy and demonstrate communication device improvement with a standardized protocol.

Consequences and Solutions for the Impact of Communication Impairment on Noninvasive Ventilation Therapy for Acute Respiratory Failure: A Focused Review.

Objectives: With over 2 million cases of acute respiratory failure in the United States per year, noninvasive ventilation has become a leading treatment modality, often supplanting invasive mechanical ventilation as the initial treatment of choice. Most acute respiratory failure patients use a full face (oronasal) mask with noninvasive ventilation, which is known to impair communication, but its popularity and benefit has led many providers to accept the communication impairment. Medical staff periodically remove masks to communicate with patients, but patients are often limited to short utterances and risk lung derecruitment upon removal of positive pressure.

Addressing gaps between payer policies and AASM clinical practice guidelines using scorecards.

The Payer Policy Review Committee of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine launched an initiative to assess the alignment between clinical practice guidelines and private payer medical policies. This article summarizes the importance of the initiative, details the scorecard development process, including an analysis of policy scores and subsequent revisions, and discusses the impact of the scorecards particularly as related to the scorecards on the clinical practice guideline for diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea in adults. This initiative has increased communication and engagement among members of the Payer Policy Review Committee and private payers, creating opportunities to advocate on behalf of sleep medicine providers and patients with sleep disorders, encouraging payers to modify existing policies so that evidence-based care is provided to patients with sleep disorders.

Effects of Adaptive Servoventilation Therapy for Central Sleep Apnea on Health Care Utilization and Mortality: A Population-Based Study.

Study Objectives: Adaptive servoventilation (ASV) is the suggested treatment for many forms of central sleep apnea (CSA). We aimed to evaluate the impact of treating CSA with ASV on health care utilization.

Methods: In this population-based study using the Rochester Epidemiology Project database, we identified patients over a 9-year period who were diagnosed with CSA (n = 1,237), commenced ASV therapy, and had ≥ 1 month of clinical data before and after ASV initiation.

Practical Implementation of a Single-Night Split-Titration Protocol With BPAP-ST and AVAPS in Patients With Neuromuscular Disease.

Study Objectives: At the sleep laboratory, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation titration protocols in patients with neuromuscular disease (NMD) are based on standard pressure cycle devices in a spontaneous/timed mode (BPAP-ST). Experience integrating protocols on average volume-assured pressure support (AVAPS) mode is limited, prompting us to develop a practical single-night titration protocol that provides information to assist clinicians and patients as they decide between BPAP-ST and AVAPS modes.

Methods: We implemented a sequential titration protocol of BPAP-ST followed by AVAPS during a single-night polysomnography study in patients with NMD and reported polysomnographic and clinical metrics.

Knowledge Gaps in the Perioperative Management of Adults with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome. An Official American Thoracic Society Workshop Report.

The purpose of this workshop was to identify knowledge gaps in the perioperative management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS). A single-day meeting was held at the American Thoracic Society Conference in May, 2016, with representation from many specialties, including anesthesiology, perioperative medicine, sleep, and respiratory medicine. Further research is urgently needed as we look to improve health outcomes for these patients and reduce health care costs.

Respiratory Compromise as a New Paradigm for the Care of Vulnerable Hospitalized Patients.

Acute respiratory compromise describes a deterioration in respiratory function with a high likelihood of rapid progression to respiratory failure and death. Identifying patients at risk for respiratory compromise coupled with monitoring of patients who have developed respiratory compromise might allow earlier interventions to prevent or mitigate further decompensation. The National Association for the Medical Direction of Respiratory Care (NAMDRC) organized a workshop meeting with representation from many national societies to address the unmet needs of respiratory compromise from a clinical practice perspective.

Long-Term Mechanical Ventilation.

Although precise numbers are difficult to obtain, the population of patients receiving long-term ventilation has increased over the last 20 years, and includes patients with chronic lung diseases, neuromuscular diseases, spinal cord injury, and children with complex disorders. This article reviews the equipment and logistics involved with ventilation outside of the hospital. Discussed are common locations for long-term ventilation, airway and secretion management, and many of the potential challenges faced by individuals on long-term ventilation.

Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine Guidelines on Preoperative Screening and Assessment of Adult Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

The purpose of the Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine guideline on preoperative screening and assessment of adult patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is to present recommendations based on the available clinical evidence on the topic where possible. As very few well-performed randomized studies in this field of perioperative care are available, most of the recommendations were developed by experts in the field through consensus processes involving utilization of evidence grading to indicate the level of evidence upon which recommendations were based. This guideline may not be appropriate for all clinical situations and all patients.

Perioperative management of patients with obstructive sleep apnea: a survey of Canadian anesthesiologists.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may increase the incidence of postoperative complications when undiagnosed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perspectives of Canadian anesthesiologists regarding the perioperative management of patients with diagnosed or suspected OSA.

Methods: This study was conducted as a survey of Canadian anesthesiologists using a self-administered scenario-based questionnaire.