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Updated: Mar 28, 2026
Author Spotlight: Unraveling the Impact of Mechanical Ventilation on Diaphragm Function and Patient Outcomes
Published on: November 3, 2023
Conventional Mechanical Ventilation Versus High-frequency Oscillatory Ventilation for Congenital Diaphragmatic
Kitty G Snoek1, Irma Capolupo, Joost van Rosmalen
1*Intensive Care and Department of Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus Medical Centre-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands †Department of Medical and Surgical Neonatology, Bambino Gesù Hospital, Rome, Italy ‡Department of Biostatistics, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands §Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, MRC & Asthma UK Centre in Allergic Mechanisms of Asthma, King's College London, London, UK.
Objectives:
To determine the optimal initial ventilation mode in congenital diaphragmatic hernia.
Background:
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a life-threatening anomaly with significant mortality and morbidity. The maldeveloped lungs have a high susceptibility for oxygen and ventilation damage resulting in a high incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and chronic respiratory morbidity.
Methods:
An international, multicenter study (NTR 1310), the VICI-trial was performed in prenatally diagnosed congenital diaphragmatic hernia infants (n = 171) born between November 2008 and December 2013, who were randomized for initial ventilation strategy.
Results:
Ninety-one (53.2%) patients initially received conventional mechanical ventilation and 80 (46.8%) high-frequency oscillation. Forty-one patients (45.1%) randomized to conventional mechanical ventilation died/ had BPD compared with 43 patients (53.8%) in the high-frequency oscillation group. An odds ratio of 0.62 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.25-1.55] (P = 0.31) for death/BPD for conventional mechanical ventilation vs high-frequency oscillation was demonstrated, after adjustment for center, head-lung ratio, side of the defect, and liver position. Patients initially ventilated by conventional mechanical ventilation were ventilated for fewer days (P = 0.03), less often needed extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (P = 0.007), inhaled nitric oxide (P = 0.045), sildenafil (P = 0.004), had a shorter duration of vasoactive drugs (P = 0.02), and less often failed treatment (P = 0.01) as compared with infants initially ventilated by high-frequency oscillation.
Conclusions:
Our results show no statistically significant difference in the combined outcome of mortality or BPD between the 2 ventilation groups in prenatally diagnosed congenital diaphragmatic hernia infants. Other outcomes, including shorter ventilation time and lesser need of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, favored conventional ventilation.
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