Time course of ventilatory drive in patients with kyphoscoliosis before and during intermittent ventilation

The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the mouth-occlusion-pressure under CO2-stimulation in five patients (3 women, 2 men) suffering from kyphoscoliosis of different aetiology whilst being under noninvasive ventilation for respiratory muscle fatigue. Ten months after initiation of noninvasive ventilation we could demonstrate a marginal improvement of respiratory muscle strength but the P0.1 CO2-decreased slightly. We conclude that this decrease might be due to an increase in tidal volume allowing for a reduction in respiratory rate.