OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that in very prematurely born infants remaining ventilated beyond the first week, proportional assist ventilation (PAV) compared with assist control ventilation (ACV) would be associated with reduced work of breathing, increased respiratory muscle strength and less ventilator-infant asynchrony which would be associated with improved oxygenation. DESIGN Randomi...

Introduction Neurally adjusted ventilatory assist (NAVA) is used to adapt mechanical ventilation to patient demand while unloading respiratory muscles. Titration methods are focused on sustained unloading of the diaphragm while maintaining a stable tidal volume [1]. It is hypothesized that the activity of accessory respiratory muscles can supply extra information about muscle unloading and pati...