Current Opinion in Critical Care 2009, 15:18–24 Purpose of review Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive, radiation-free monitoring tool that allows real-time imaging of ventilation. The purpose of this article is to discuss the fundamentals of EIT and to review the use of EIT in critical care patients. Recent findings In addition to its established role in describing the distri...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is defined as a syndrome characterized by usually progressive chronic airflow limitation which is associated to a bronchial hyperresponsiveness and is partially reversible. Noninvasive mechanical ventilation is an alternative treatment for patients with COPD exacerbations. The objective of the literature reviews was to veri...

Sea drowning is a common cause of accidental death worldwide. Respiratory complications such as acute pulmonary oedema, which is often complicated by acute respiratory distress syndrome, is often seen. Noninvasive ventilation is already widely used as a first approach to treat acute respiratory failure resulting from multiple diseases. We report a case of a 45 year old man with a history of epi...

we maintain mechanical ventilation for 3 weeks. Then, after the tube is removed, the patient continues with nasal nocturnal ventilation and intermittent positive-pressure ventilation for 20 min three times a day. If, despite this management, the patient requires invasive ventilation more than three times during the same year or requires nasal ventilation not only during sleeping, but also while...