Acute severe asthma: performance of ventilator at simulated altitude

Exacerbation of asthma can appear during air transport. Severe patients, not responding to conventional therapy can require ventilator support. We evaluated the performance of two transport ventilators, built with turbine technology - the T-bird VSO2 and the LTV 1000 - for use during aeromedical evacuation of acute severe asthma. We have assessed the ability of both ventilators to deliver to an acute severe asthma model a tidal volume (Vt) set at different simulated altitudes, by changing the ambient air pressure.