RESUMEN
The objective of this review is to compare high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen (High flow oxygen) and noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for the management of acute respiratory failure secondary to suspected or confirmed acute heart failure (AHF). A comprehensive and relevant literature search of MEDLINE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library was conducted using Medical Subject Heading and Free text terms from January 2010 to March 2024. All randomized clinical trials and observational retrospective and prospective studies reporting adult patients with acute respiratory failure due to suspected or confirmed AHF and comparing HFNC to NIV were included. Primary outcome included treatment failure, as a composite outcome including early termination to the allocated treatment, need for in-hospital intubation or mortality, or the definition used in the study for treatment failure if adequate. Secondary outcomes included change in respiratory rate and dyspnea intensity after treatment initiation, patient comfort, invasive mechanical ventilation requirement, and day-30 mortality. Six of the 802 identified studies were selected for final analysis, including 572 patients (221 assigned to high flow and 351 to NIV). Treatment failure rate was 20% and 13% in the high flow oxygen and NIV groups, respectively [estimated odds ratio (OR): 1.7, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.9-3.1] in randomized studies and 34% and 16% in the high flow oxygen and NIV groups, respectively (OR: 3.1, 95% CI: 0.7-13.5), in observational studies. Tracheal intubation requirement was 7% and 5% of patients in the HFNC and NIV groups, respectively (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 0.5-3.5) in randomized studies, and 20% and 9% in the high flow oxygen and NIV group, respectively (OR: 2.1, 95% CI: 0.5-9.4) in observational studies. Mortality was 13% and 8% in the high flow oxygen and the NIV groups, respectively (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 0.8-1.1) in randomized studies and 14% and 9% in the high flow oxygen and the NIV groups, respectively (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 0.5-3.7) in observational studies. Compared with NIV, high flow oxygen was not associated with a higher risk of treatment failure during initial management of patients with acute respiratory failure related to suspected or confirmed AHF.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Whether high-flow nasal oxygen can improve clinical signs of acute respiratory failure in acute heart failure (AHF) is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of high-flow oxygen with noninvasive ventilation (NIV) on respiratory rate in patients admitted to an emergency department (ED) for AHF-related acute respiratory failure. DESIGN, SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: Multicenter, randomized pilot study in three French EDs. Adult patients with acute respiratory failure due to suspected AHF were included. Key exclusion criteria were urgent need for intubation, Glasgow Coma Scale <13 points or hemodynamic instability. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly assigned to receive high-flow oxygen (minimum 50â l/min) or noninvasive bilevel positive pressure ventilation. OUTCOMES MEASURE: The primary outcome was change in respiratory rate within the first hour of treatment and was analyzed with a linear mixed model. Secondary outcomes included changes in pulse oximetry, heart rate, blood pressure, blood gas samples, comfort, treatment failure and mortality. MAIN RESULTS: Among the 145 eligible patients in the three participating centers, 60 patients were included in the analysis [median age 86 (interquartile range (IQR), 90; 92) years]. There was a median respiratory rate of 30.5 (IQR, 28; 33) and 29.5 (IQR, 27; 35) breaths/min in the high-flow oxygen and NIV groups respectively, with a median change of -10 (IQR, -12; -8) with high-flow nasal oxygen and -7 (IQR, -11; -5) breaths/min with NIV [estimated difference -2.6 breaths/min (95% confidence interval (CI), -0.5-5.7), P â =â 0.052] at 60â min. There was a median SpO 2 of 95 (IQR, 92; 97) and 96 (IQR, 93; 97) in the high-flow oxygen and NIV groups respectively, with a median change at 60â min of 2 (IQR, 0; 5) with high-flow nasal oxygen and 2 (IQR, -1; 5) % with NIV [estimated difference 0.8% (95% CI, -1.1-2.8), P â =â 0.60]. PaO 2 , PaCO 2 and pH did not differ at 1â h between groups, nor did treatment failure, intubation and mortality rates. CONCLUSION: In this pilot study, we did not observe a statistically significant difference in changes in respiratory rate among patients with acute respiratory failure due to AHF and managed with high-flow oxygen or NIV. However, the point estimate and its large confidence interval may suggest a benefit of high-flow oxygen. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04971213 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov ).