New research published in JAMA and presented at ATS 2017 found that COPD patients benefited from home oxygen combined with noninvasive ventilation.

As part of the study, which was jointly funded by Philips and ResMed, researchers randomly assigned patients with persistent hypercapnia after a COPD flare-up to home oxygen alone (n = 59) or home oxygen plus home NIV (n = 57).

Sixty-four patients completed the 12-month study, with 28 receiving home oxygen alone and 36 receiving home oxygen plus home NIV. The median time to readmission or death was 4.3 months in the home oxygen plus home NIV group vs 1.4 months in the home oxygen alone group. The 12-month risk of readmission or death was 63 percent in the home oxygen plus home NIV group vs 80 percent in the home oxygen alone group. At 12 months, 16 patients had died in the home oxygen plus home NIV group vs 19 in the home oxygen alone group.

Several limitations of the study are noted in the article, including that the lack of a double-blind design for this trial is a potential criticism. However, the use of a sham device would have the potential to worsen respiratory failure.

“These data support the screening of patients with COPD after receiving acute noninvasive ventilation to identify persistent hypercapnia and introduce home noninvasive ventilation,” the authors write.

Study author Dr Nicholas Hart explained the results an an ATS 2017 mini-symposium, sponsored by Philips. Watch the video, below.