Under-The-Nose Versus Over-The-Nose Face Mask to Prevent Facial Pressure Sores During Face Mask-Delivered Noninvasive Ventilation for Acute Hypercapnic Respiratory Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether an under-the-nose face mask (FM) as the first-line interface strategy reduces the incidence of facial pressure sores with the same clinical improvement as the one obtained by standard over-the-nose face mask-noninvasive ventilation (FM-NIV) in patients with acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF). DESIGN: A multicenter, prospective randomized controlled study. SETTING: Two ICUs from two French tertiary hospitals. PATIENTS: A total of 108 patients needed NIV for AHRF. INTERVENTIONS: participants were randomized (1/1) to receive either the under-the-nose FM (intervention group) or the over-the-nose FM (control group). The primary endpoint was the reduction of facial pressure sores. Secondary endpoints included patients outcome, NIV failure (intubation or death), arterial blood gas improvement, and interface failure (the need to switch to a total face mask). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Despite less protective dressings in the intervention group ( n = 4, 5% vs n = 27, 51%; p < 0.001), pressure sores developed less frequently than in the control group ( n = 3, 5% vs n = 39, 74%; p < 0.001). Similar mortality, NIV failure, and arterial blood gas improvement occurred in the two groups. However, under-the-nose FM resulted in a higher interface failure rate than conventional FM ( n = 18, 33% vs n = 5, 9%; p = 0.004), mainly because of excessive unintentional air leaks ( n = 15, 83% vs n = 0, 0%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with AHRF, under-the-nose FM significantly reduced the incidence of facial pressure sores compared to the most commonly used first-line interface, the standard FM. However, with this new mask, excessive unintentional air leaks more often compelled the attending clinician to switch to another interface to pursue NIV.

Risk Factors for Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Critically Ill Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Severe coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Recently, several publications reported on coronavirus disease 2019-associated pulmonary aspergillosis. However, risk factors remain unclear. We retrospectively collected all the cases of coronavirus disease 2019 acute respiratory distress syndrome patients (n = 46) admitted to our 34-bed ICU between March 24, 2020, and May 25, 2020, and identified six patients that met the diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis according to previously established definitions. This population exhibited higher severity scores at admission and less hospital discharge compared with noninvasive pulmonary aspergillosis patients. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, malnutrition, and systemic corticosteroid use were identified as risk factors for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis in coronavirus disease 2019-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome patients. Coronavirus disease 2019-associated pulmonary aspergillosis may be a serious concern regarding corticosteroids use to control the inflammatory response of coronavirus disease 2019-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome.