Nocturnal Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation

Abstract

Long-term mechanical ventilation in patients with neuromuscular problems was first introduced between 1950 and 1960 in France and Sweden as a consequence of the poliomyelitis epidemics. During the following decades, the concept of home mechanical ventilation expanded rapidly. Long-term mechanical ventilation was implemented in many other countries and for many other conditions, including neuromuscular or chest wall disorders, spinal cord injury, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. At the beginning of the 1990s, there were 26,000 people in France and 11,419 in the United States receiving long-term respiratory assistance. About 10% presented with neuromuscular or chest wall disorders. A European survey conducted between July 2001 and June 2002 reported the use of home mechanical ventilation in 483 centers in 16 countries. That study identified 27,118 participants with long-term mechanical ventilation for lung or neuromuscular diseases related to chronic respiratory failure. Then, the estimated prevalence was 6.6 per 100,000 people.