• Jimmy Johannes, David A Berlin, Parimal Patel, Edward J Schenck, Frances Mae West, Rajan Saggar, and Igor Z Barjaktarevic.
• 1Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. 2Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY. 3Division of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA.
• Crit. Care Med. 2017 Sep 1; 45 (9): e980-e984.

ObjectivePatients with pulmonary hypertension and right heart failure have a high risk of clinical deterioration and death during or soon after endotracheal intubation. The effects of sedation, hypoxia, hypoventilation, and changes in intrathoracic pressure can lead to severe hemodynamic instability. In search for safer approach to endotracheal intubation in this cohort of patients, we evaluate the safety and feasibility of an alternative intubation technique.Data SourcesRetrospective data analysis.Study SelectionTwo medical ICUs in large university hospitals in the United States.Data ExtractionWe report a case series of nine nonconsecutive patients with compromised right heart function, pulmonary hypertension, and severe acute hypoxemic respiratory failure who underwent endotracheal intubation with a novel technique combining awake bronchoscopic intubation supported with nasally delivered noninvasive positive pressure ventilation or high-flow nasal cannula.Data SynthesisAll patients were intubated in the first attempt without major complications and eight patients (88%) were alive 24 hours after intubation. Systemic hypotension was the most frequent complication following the procedure.ConclusionsAwake bronchoscopic intubation supported with a noninvasive positive pressure delivery systems may be feasible alternative to standard direct laryngoscopy approach. Further studies are needed to better assess its safety and applicability.

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