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Background Noninvasive ventilation (continuous positive airway pressure [CPAP] or noninvasive intermittent positive-pressure ventilation [NIPPV]) appears to be of benefit in the immediate treatment of patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema and may reduce mortality. We conducted a study to determine whether noninvasive ventilation reduces mortality and whether there are important differences in outcome associated with the method of treatment (CPAP or NIPPV).
Methods In a multicenter, open, prospective, randomized, controlled trial, patients were assigned to standard oxygen therapy, CPAP (5 to 15 cm of water), or NIPPV (inspiratory pressure, 8 to 20 cm of water; expiratory pressure, 4 to 10 cm of water). The primary end point for the comparison between noninvasive ventilation and standard oxygen therapy was death within 7 days after the initiation of treatment, and the primary end point for the comparison between NIPPV and CPAP was death or intubation within 7 days.
Results A total of 1069 patients (mean [±SD] age, 77.7±9.7 years; female sex, 56.9%) were assigned to standard oxygen therapy (367 patients), CPAP (346 patients), or NIPPV (356 patients). There was no significant difference in 7-day mortality between patients receiving standard oxygen therapy (9.8%) and those undergoing noninvasive ventilation (9.5%, P=0.87). There was no significant difference in the combined end point of death or intubation within 7 days between the two groups of patients undergoing noninvasive ventilation (11.7% for CPAP and 11.1% for NIPPV, P=0.81). As compared with standard oxygen therapy, noninvasive ventilation was associated with greater mean improvements at 1 hour after the beginning of treatment in patient-reported dyspnea (treatment difference, 0.7 on a visual-analogue scale ranging from 1 to 10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2 to 1.3; P=0.008), heart rate (treatment difference, 4 beats per minute; 95% CI, 1 to 6; P=0.004), acidosis (treatment difference, pH 0.03; 95% CI, 0.02 to 0.04; P<0.001), and hypercapnia (treatment difference, 0.7 kPa [5.2 mm Hg]; 95% CI, 0.4 to 0.9; P<0.001). There were no treatment-related adverse events.
Conclusions In patients with acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema, noninvasive ventilation induces a more rapid improvement in respiratory distress and metabolic disturbance than does standard oxygen therapy but has no effect on short-term mortality. (Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN07448447
[controlled-trials.com]
.)
Source Information
From the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (A.G., M.M.), the University of Sheffield, Sheffield (S.G., F.S., J.N.), and the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (D.E.N.) — all in the United Kingdom.
Address reprint requests to Dr. Gray at the Department of Emergency Medicine, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Little France, Edinburgh EH16 4SA, United Kingdom, or at alasdair.gray{at}luht.scot.nhs.uk.
Related Letters:
Noninvasive Ventilation in Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema
McDermid R. C., Bagshaw S. M., Masip J., Mebazaa A., Filippatos G. S., Gray A., Goodacre S., Newby D.
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N Engl J Med 2008;
359:2068-2069, Nov 6, 2008.
Correspondence
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