Long-Term Home Ventilation in Children: Advances and Perspectives

Long-term mechanical ventilation (LTMV) has been defined as the need for mechanical ventilation delivered via tracheotomy (invasive mechanical ventilation) or noninvasive interfaces (noninvasive ventilation, NIV), including continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), for at least 3 months after its commencement, for a minimum amount of 6 h per day, in medically stable conditions [1, 2]. A recent Italian study showed that all LTMV users received invasive or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) and only 1.5% of children were also managed with other ventilatory assistance modes (i.e., 1% with glossopharyngeal breathing and 0.5% with phrenic nerve stimulation) [1].