Relatively little is known on how the Doppler method compares with oscillometric measurement using a conventional automatic blood pressure device to determine the ankle-brachial index, when determinations are performed by physicians with little experience. To assess the diagnostic efficacy of both methods in this professional group, we calculated their sensitivity, specificity, and positive and...

Severe respiratory failure in a patient with obstructive sleep apnoea was treated successfully with nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation. Nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation is a non-invasive method of respiratory support originally developed for the treatment of chest wall and neuromuscular disorders.'2 Recent studies suggest that this technique may be applicable to a ...

BACKGROUND During volume guarantee (VG) ventilation the peak inflating pressure (PIP) for each ventilator inflation is adjusted to ensure the expired tidal volume (V(Te)) is close to the set V(Te). Differences in the PIP between inflations triggered by the infant's inspirations and untriggered inflations are seen. AIM To investigate the effects of triggered and untriggered inflations on PIP a...

Aim: Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) has achieved widespread success in the treatment of chronic wounds. However, its effects have been only partially explored, and investigations have generally concentrated on the wound‐dressing interface; a detailed histopathological description of the evolution of wounds under NPWT is still lacking. The present study was performed to investigate the e...

RATIONALE Previous studies have shown that an increase in inspiratory pressure during nasal intermittent positive pressure ventilation (IPPV) does not result in increased effective minute ventilation (E) due to glottic interference. STUDY OBJECTIVES To test the consequences of increases in negative pressure ventilation (NPV) on V(E). MATERIAL AND METHODS Eight healthy awake subjects underwe...

Ten patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hypercapnic respiratory failure were randomly submitted to intermittent negative pressure ventilation (INPV) 6 h per day for 5 consecutive days by either a cuirass or pneumo wrap ventilator. The effects were assessed by measurements of spirometry, blood gases, maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory (MEP) pressures, 12 m...

Historical development Negative pressure ventilation first came into use during the second half of the nineteenth century. It was recognised that air would be drawn into the lungs through the mouth and nose if a subatmospheric pressure could be developed around the thorax and abdomen. When the pressure around the -chest wall returned to that of the ambient air, expiration occurred passively owi...

BACKGROUND In recent years non-invasive ventilatory techniques have been used successfully in the treatment of acute on chronic respiratory failure (ACRF), but careful selection of patients is essential and a comatose state may represent an exclusion criterion. The aim of this retrospective and uncontrolled study was to evaluate whether a non-invasive ventilatory technique such as the iron lung...