• Karl Reiter, Nadine Pernath, Philipp Pagel, Stephan Hiedi, Florian Hoffmann, Carola Schoen, and Thomas Nicolai.
• Kinderklinik und Kinderpoliklinik der Universität München, Lindwurmstrasse 4, Munich, Germany. karl.reiter@med.uni-muenchen.de
• Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2011 Mar 1; 50 (3): 237-43.

BackgroundHome mechanical ventilation (HMV) is increasingly used in children with chronic respiratory insufficiency, but data on incidence and type of adverse events are limited.SettingPediatric HMV program at a tertiary university hospital.MethodsThe authors retrospectively analyzed the type and incidence of severe emergencies in a mixed pediatric HMV program.ResultsIn all, 295 patient-years of HMV in 54 patients could be analyzed. A total of 26 patients had neuromuscular disease. In 16 patients, mechanical ventilation was initiated at <1 year of age. A total of 45 children were ventilated via tracheostomy and 9 by nasal mask. This study identified 68 severe emergencies (0.2 per patient-year) leading to 4 deaths. Respiratory causes were found in 48 cases (including 15 tracheostomy-related and 3 ventilator failures). Only age, but not underlying diagnosis or mode of ventilation, correlated with incidence of emergencies.ConclusionsPediatric HMV including all age and diagnostic groups shows a low incidence of emergencies.

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