Continuous Negative Extrathoracic Pressure (CNEP) in Neonatal Respiratory Failure: Correction

To the Editor. — There have been many allegations in the British press in the last 6 years that the conduct of the randomized trial of noninvasive respiratory support for preterm infants with respiratory distress that we published in this journal in December 19961,2 was deeply flawed. One independent rebuttal of most of those claims was published in 2000,3 but because the regulatory bodies are still investigating these allegations,4 it becomes important to state clearly that the results reported in the original article are correct and require no amendment. Despite stratified randomization based on gestation and the need for oxygen and other respiratory support at 4 hours, the mean birth weight of infants randomly assigned to receive conventional care turned out to be lower than those offered continuous negative extrathoracic pressure (CNEP) using …