Noninvasive ventilation in acute exacerbation of interstitial lung diseases

Introduction Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) has been recognized as a mean to avoid intubation and to reduce the risk of complications. Aims To study the role of NIV in acute respiratory failure in patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILD). Settings and design This was a prospective study. Patients and methods The present study included 30 mechanically ventilated patients through noninvasive masks subjected basically to informed consent, clinical data collection, laboratory investigations, chest radiograph, and arterial blood gas samples. Results A total of 20 patients were found to be survivors, whereas 10 patients were found to be nonsurvivors. The most common type of ILD in our study was hypersensitivity pneumonitis (53.3% of all patients) with fibrosis, and ground glass opacities were the most common radiological findings on high-resolution computed tomography, and moderate restrictive pattern in pulmonary function tests. Infection was the main cause of exacerbation as evidenced by fever, elevated total leukocytic count, staff neutrophilic count, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. None of our patients developed complications or intolerance to NIV. Conclusion There was improvement in oxygenation parameters, so NIV could be a valuable option for management of acute type I mild to moderate respiratory failure in patients with ILD.