Preference of neuromuscular patients regarding equipment for daytime mouthpiece ventilation: A randomized crossover study.

BACKGROUND: Patients with neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) are likely to develop respiratory failure which requires noninvasive ventilation (NIV). Ventilation via a mouthpiece (MPV) is an option to offer daytime NIV. OBJECTIVES: To determine the preferred equipment for MPV by patients with NMDs. METHODS: Two MPV equipment sets were compared in 20 patients with NMDs. Set 1, consisted of a non-dedicated ventilator for MPV (PB560, Covidien) with a plastic angled mouthpiece. Set 2, consisted of a dedicated MPV ventilator (Trilogy 100, Philips Respironics) without backup rate and kiss trigger combined with a silicone straw mouthpiece. The Borg dyspnea score, ventilator free time, transcutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO2) and carbon dioxide tension (TcCO2 ) were recorded with and without MPV. Patient perception was assessed by a 17-items list. RESULTS: Carbon dioxide tension measurements and total perception score were not different between the two MPV sets. Dyspnea score was lower with the non-dedicated versus dedicated equipment, 1 (0.5) versus 3 (1-6), P < 0.01. All patients with a ventilator free time lower than 6 hours preferred a set backup rate rather than a kiss trigger. Sixty five percent of patients preferred the commercial arm support and 55% preferred the plastic angled mouthpiece. CONCLUSIONS: Dedicated and non-dedicated MPV equipment are deemed effective and comfortable. Individualization of arm support and mouthpiece is advised to ensure success of MPV. A ventilator free time lower than 6 hours seems to be a useful indicator to a priori set a backup rate rather than a rate at zero associated to the kiss trigger.

Clinical course and characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan, China: a single-centered, retrospective, observational study.

BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2) is the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic. Despite the extensive studies aiming to understand the pathology of COVID-19, the clinicopathological characteristics and risk factors associated with COVID-19 remain mostly unclear. In this study, we assessed the clinical course and features of COVID-19 patients. FINDINGS: There were 59 patients (54.1%) that had no fever. One-hundred(91.7%) patients required oxygen therapy, which improved percutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO2). Seventy-two (66.1%) patients aged over 60; these patients were more likely to develop respiratory symptoms. Only 13(11.9%) patients were positive for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, and computed tomography (CT) findings. We found significant differences in age, respiratory symptoms, and heart rates between patients with and without underlying conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that oxygen plays an important role in the treatment of COVID-19 patients and that age and underlying diseases are significant risk factors for COVID-19. Most COVID-19 patients have no fever, and CT provides higher detection rates than antibody- and nucleic acid-based detection methods. METHODS: We analyzed data from 109 confirmed COVID-19 cases. We compared the clinicopathological characteristic of patients stratified according to age and underlying diseases, as well as assessed the detection rates of different diagnostic methods.