Survival of patients with severe thoracic spine deformities receiving domiciliary oxygen therapy

Scoliosis can lead to respiratory failure and premature death. Alveolar hypoventilation is a dominant cause and artificial ventilation at home (AVH) is probably the treatment of choice. It has been suggested that long-term domiciliary oxygen therapy (LTO) is of little value because of the worsening of hypercapnia. We analyzed survival and predictors of death among 80 patients with scoliosis and other severe thoracic spine deformities receiving LTO for chronic hypoxia. The survival rate was higher in patients under the age of 65 (p = 0.01) and in patients without concomitant pulmonary or airways disease. Likewise, the survival rate was higher in patients with a PaCO2 of greater than 7.4 kPa than in patients with a lesser degree of hypoventilation and hypercapnia (p less than 0.05). The risk of developing life-threatening hypercapnia during well-controlled LTO appeared to be small. In younger patients without complicating disease, long-term survival was achieved with LTO, but with time, an increasing proportion of the patients changed to AVH, with or without LTO.