[Preliminary report and indications of assisted ventilation at home (author's transl)]

Two uses of intermittent positive pressure can be distinguished: one supports inhalotherapy and the other longterm assisted ventilation. The apparatus can be connected to the patient either through mouth-piece or by tracheostomy. The main factors involved in the indication of assisted ventilation are the number of acute failures, hypoxemia, hypercapnia, cor pulmonale. In our department, 53 patients were kept under prolonged supervision before a decision was made to use assisted ventilation or not. This attitude seems absolutely necessary. An oxygen test of several hours provides very useful information. Finally, the authors review the indication of various ventilation methods (tracheostomy, oral) in relation to different chronic respiratory insufficiency etiologies (ie., chronic obstructive broncho-pneumonia, restrictive syndrome).