Airwaves
- Wisia Wedzicha, Editor in Chief
QUALITY CONTROL OF HOME VENTILATION
With the availability of non-invasive ventilation, there has been an increase in the treatment of patients at home with home ventilation. A recent European Union Concerted Action study estimated that there were around 21 500 patients on home ventilatory support in Europe, but that there was marked variation in quality control of the equipment between countries. In this month’s Thorax Farré and colleagues describe a survey of the performance of equipment in 300 patients using home ventilation in Barcelona, Spain. Differences were found between actual, set, and prescribed values of the ventilator variables which may reflect inadequate documentation of changes or user changes. The authors also describe underperformance of ventilator alarms. However, the number of non-programmed hospital admissions was not related to an index reflecting ventilator error. This index was also greater where home ventilation started earlier, and the authors conclude that the problems encountered in the study were an indication of poor …
