Acidosis, non-invasive ventilation and mortality in hospitalised COPD exacerbations
- 1Department of Cardiothoracic Services, Sunderland, UK
- 2Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, UK
- 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, UK
- Correspondence to Dr Stephen Murphy, Sunderland Royal Hospital, Sunderland, UK; stephen.murphy{at}chs.northy.nhs.uk
- Accepted 24 January 2011
- Published Online First 8 March 2011
The national chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) audit confirms the high mortality associated with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) in COPD, particularly in severely acidotic patients.1 The authors highlight the observations that significant numbers of patients eligible for non-invasive ventilation (NIV) do not receive it and that NIV is almost universally the ceiling of care with only 5% of acidotic patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Comparisons are made with the outcomes of clinical trials of NIV, and there is an implication …
