Some Infant Ventilator Systems

Measuring Expiratory Diaphragm Activity: An Electrifying Tool to Guide Positive End-Expiratory Pressure Strategy in Critically Ill Children?*

“…Essential roles span diagnosis (including neonatal congenital heart disease screening), illness severity definition, triage for admission criteria, and guiding respiratory interventions. Contemporary pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome definitions include saturation measurements as part of a paradigm shift away from invasive arterial monitoring (5). With expansion into homes, beyond clinical utility, Medicare reimbursements rely on saturation thresholds (6).…”

“…They, therefore, exploit an active diaphragm during expiration, in addition to laryngeal braking of flow and a high respiratory rate, to maintain end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) (2). With landmark observations in 1968 of grunting neonates at risk for alveolar derecruitment due to classic hyaline membrane disease (3), pioneers in this field soon realized the clinical importance of maintaining EELV in respiratory disease states for patients of all ages, leading toward first applications of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) during mechanical ventilation (4, 5).…”

Anaesthesia for a Patient Suffering From Familial Dysautonomia (Riley-Day Syndrome)

“…Intermittent positive pressure ventilation was instituted using nitrous oxide 70 per cent and oxygen 30 per cent with halothane in decreasing concentration, from 1 to 0.25 per cent, for the duration of the operation. The circuit used was an Ayre T-piece in conjunction with an infant ventilation circuit (Inkster and Pearson, 1967).…”