Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), also known as chronic lung disease (CLD), is the most common serious morbidity associated with premature birth, particularly among those infants who have respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and receive mechanical ventilation after birth. BPD is characterized by lung inflammation and scarring, which are thought to be the effects of excessive (or inadequate) vent...

Oral appliance (OA) therapy for snoring, obstructive sleep apnea, or both is simple, reversible, quiet, and cost-effective and may be indicated in patients who are unable to tolerate nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) or are poor surgical risks. OAs are effective in varying degrees and seem to work because of an increase in airway space, the provision of a stable anterior positio...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Heated, humidified high-flow nasal cannula (HHHFNC) is commonly used as a noninvasive mode of respiratory support in the NICU. The safety and efficacy of HHHFNC have not been compared with other modes of noninvasive support in large randomized trials. The objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of HHHFNC compared with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (n...

BACKGROUND The optimal strategy for weaning very preterm infants from nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) is unclear. Reported strategies include weaning NCPAP to a predefined pressure then trialling stopping completely (abrupt wean); alternate periods of increased time off NCPAP whilst reducing time on until the infant is completely weaned (gradual wean); and using high flow nasa...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether nasal intermittent mandatory ventilation (NIMV) compared with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) would decrease the requirement for endotracheal ventilation in the treatment of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in preterm infants <35 weeks. STUDY DESIGN Randomized, controlled, prospective, single-center study. Forty-one infants were randomized to...

Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) is used during non-invasive and invasive ventilation of newborns, infants and children. PEEP improves gas exchange by increasing the functional residual capacity, reducing respiratory effort, lowering requirements for respiratory mixture oxygen, and enabling a decrease in the peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) without decreasing the mean airway pressure. Its...

BACKGROUND There is increasing evidence that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an independent risk factor for arterial hypertension. Because there are no controlled studies showing a substantial effect of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) therapy on hypertension in OSA, the impact of treatment on cardiovascular sequelae has been questioned altogether. Therefore, we studied the ef...

Background: Premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) are in dire need of respiratory support with a ventilator. However, the high tidal volume of mechanical ventilation may cause lung injury, and researchers have been concerned with the use of nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP). NCPAP has concomitant side effects, such as abdominal distention, which might disrup...

BACKGROUND Apnoea, desaturations and bradycardias are common problems in preterm infants which can be treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP) and nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV). It is unclear whether synchronised NIPPV (SNIPPV) would be even more effective. OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of flow-SNIPPV, NIPPV and NCPAP on the rate of desaturat...