Prediction of the Effectiveness of Spontaneous Breathing in Patients with Brain Damage of Various Etiologies

The aim of the study was to develop an informative method for assessing chemoreflex sensitivity and to evaluate its prognostic capacity for restoring spontaneous breathing in patients with brain damage of various etiologies. The study included 16 healthy volunteers and 38 patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation (VE) after a traumatic brain injury, anoxic brain damage, and cerebrovascular events. The external respiration variables were assessed from the initial level to the development of the first episode of desaturation with spO(2) in the range of 90–80% against the background of normobaric hypoxia as indicators reflecting the development of adaptive ventilatory response and characterizing the state of peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity (PCS). The peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity index (PCSI) was calculated using the equation: PCSI = [RR(e) : RR(i)] × [Vt(e) : Vt(i)] × [VE(e) : VE(i)] × Vt(e) × VE(e), where PCSI is the peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity index in L(2)/min; RR(i) and RR(e); Vt(i) and Vt(e); VE(i) and VE(e) are the respiratory rate, tidal volume, minute ventilation initially (i), before a functional stress test, and during a functional test of normobaric hypoxia with spO(2) in the range of 90–80% (e). With the PCSI values ≥15.6 L(2)/min, successful weaning from ventilators and recovery of spontaneous breathing are predicted. The sensitivity and specificity of PCSI were 78.57 [95% CI: 49.2–95.26] and 83.3% [95% CI: 62.6–95.26], respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the traditional indicator of the success rate of weaning from ventilators and recovery of spontaneous breathing, Rapid Shallow Breathing Index (RSBI), in this cohort of patients was 69.23 [95% CI: 38.6–90.9] and 28.0% [95% CI: 12.03–49.3], respectively. A predictor of the patient’s weaning from mechanical ventilation is the assessment of peripheral chemoreflex sensitivity, which can be measured by a simple non-invasive bedside test based on measuring the difference in external ventilation parameters before and during a functional normobaric hypoxic trial.