A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2019 by the French pediatric “NIV/CPAP” network, which brings together 27 pediatric academic centers in 24 French cities. Published in 2021, it involved 1447 children treated with long-term noninvasive ventilation (NIV) or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for at least 3 months as of June 1, 2019. Its results showed that 46% of children had upper airway obstruction and 28% had neuromuscular disease. A large half (55%) were on NIV while CPAP was used in 45% of cases.
A paper published in September 2022 details the data for children with neuromuscular disease:
- 387 patients, 63% of whom were boys, with a mean age of 11.2 ± 5.5 years,
- 33% had spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), 30% congenital myopathy or congenital muscular dystrophy, 20% Duchenne muscular dystrophy, 7% Steinert’s myotonic dystrophy, 9% other neuromuscular disease,
- 94% were under NIV, 6% under CPAP,
- ventilation was started during an acute respiratory episode (15% of cases) or, in the majority of cases, in the presence of sleep apnea and/or blood gas abnormalities.
