Long-term home oxygen: a UK perspective.

1 There is little doubt that children with chronic hypoxemia benefit from supplemental oxygen, which, when appropriate, can be administered outside the hospital setting. Long-term home oxygen is now a well recognized form of therapy; however, as is often the case in pediatric practice, evidence for its benefit is not always convincing. This was highlighted in the 2009 British Thoracic Society (BTS) guidelines for home oxygen in children,1 in which only 15% of the recommendations were graded A, B or C.2 This fact has inevitably led to variable practice, lack of consensus, and possible misuse of supplemental oxygen. In this issue of Jornal de Pediatria, Munhoz et al.3 present a retrospective cohort study of 165 patients from a single pediatric center in São Paulo, Brazil, receiving home oxygen during the 8-year period of 2002 to 2009. Their paper reviews the underlying diagnoses of patients on home oxygen, compares those with and without secondary pulmonary hypertension, and performs a cost analysis. This editorial will give a UK perspective on these issues.