Continuous neurally adjusted ventilation: a feasibility study in preterm infants.

Objectives: To assess the feasibility and tolerance of NeuroPAP, a new non-invasive ventilation mode which continuously adjusts (during both inspiration and expiration) the pressure support proportionally to the diaphragm electrical activity (Edi), in preterm infants and to evaluate the impact on ventilation pressure and Edi.

Design: Prospective cross-over single-centre feasibility study.

Setting: One level 3 neonatal intensive care unit in Canada.

Evolution of inspiratory diaphragm activity in children over the course of the PICU stay.

Purpose: Diaphragm function should be monitored in critically ill patients, as full ventilatory support rapidly induces diaphragm atrophy. Monitoring the electrical activity of the diaphragm (EAdi) may help assess the level of diaphragm activity, but such monitoring results are difficult to interpret because reference values are lacking. The aim of this study was to describe EAdi values in critically ill children during a stay in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), from the acute to recovery phases, and to assess the impact of ventilatory support on EAdi.

Impact of home oxygen therapy on hospital stay for infants with acute bronchiolitis.

Unlabelled: Acute bronchiolitis has been associated with an increasing hospitalization rate over the past decades. The aim of this paper was to estimate the impact of home oxygen therapy (HOT) on hospital stay for infants with acute bronchiolitis. A retrospective cohort study was done including all children aged ≤ 12 months discharged from a pediatric tertiary-care center with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis, between November 2007 and March 2008.

Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist improves patient–ventilator interaction in infants as compared with conventional ventilation.

Background: Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is a mode of ventilation controlled by the electrical activity of the diaphragm (Edi). The aim was to evaluate patient-ventilator interaction in infants during NAVA as compared with conventional ventilation.

Methods: Infants were successively ventilated with NAVA, pressure control ventilation (PCV), and pressure support ventilation (PSV).