The objective of mechanical ventilation used in the management of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is to ensure adequate tissue oxygenation and alveolar ventilation while limiting the patients’ work of breathing and preventing further damage to the lungs. Although the “partial support” ventilation modes were initially developed to assist weaning or liberation from supported ventilatio...

Purpose: Physiological changes during pregnancy impose numerous changes on the respiratory system that can affect the health of both mother and fetus. Regarding the importance of the normal breathing in the health of mother and fetus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of breathing exercise on breathing pattern of pregnant women.  Methods: The study population was pregnant women...

The objective of this study was to investigate the synchronization between low-frequency breathing patterns and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) of heart rate during guided recitation of poetry, i.e., recitation of hexameter verse from ancient Greek literature performed in a therapeutic setting. Twenty healthy volunteers performed three different types of exercises with respect to a cross-sec...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of an extubation readiness test based on a spontaneous breathing trial using pressure support. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING Pediatric intensive care unit. PATIENTS All infants and children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit requiring intubation from July 2007 to December 2008 were eligible for this study. INTERVENTIONS Routi...