title: Continuous positive airway pressure failure in preterm infants: incidence, predictors and consequences.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Preterm infants ≤32 weeks' gestation are increasingly being managed on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), without prior intubation and surfactant therapy. Some infants treated in this way ultimately fail on CPAP and require intubation and ventilation.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To define the incidence, predictors and consequences of CPAP failure in preterm infants managed with CPAP from the outset.
  
  
  METHODS
  Preterm infants 25-32 weeks' gestation were included in the study if inborn and managed with CPAP as the initial respiratory support, with division into two gestation ranges and grouping according to whether they were successfully managed on CPAP (CPAP-S) or failed on CPAP and required intubation <72 h (CPAP-F). Predictors of CPAP failure were sought, and outcomes compared between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  297 infants received CPAP, of which 65 (22%) failed, with CPAP failure being more likely at lower gestational age. Most infants failing CPAP had moderate or severe respiratory distress syndrome radiologically. In multivariate analysis, CPAP failure was found to be predicted by the highest FiO₂ in the first hours of life. CPAP-F infants had a prolonged need for respiratory support and oxygen therapy, and a higher risk of death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia at 25-28 weeks' gestation (CPAP-F 53% vs. CPAP-S 14%, relative risk 3.8, 95% CI 1.6, 9.3) and a substantially higher risk of pneumothorax at 29-32 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CPAP failure in preterm infants usually occurs because of unremitting respiratory distress syndrome, is predicted by an FiO₂ ≥0.3 in the first hours of life, and is associated with adverse outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Royal Hobart Hospital and University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas., Australia. peter.dargaville@dhhs.tas.gov.au
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Dargaville
authors.forename: Ajit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aiyappan
authors.forename: Antonio G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: De Paoli
authors.forename: Richard G B
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: Carl A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kuschel
authors.forename: C Omar
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Kamlin
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Orsini
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Carlin
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia / Q000209:etiology; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D007442:Intubation, Intratracheal / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D010100:Oxygen / Q000008:administration & dosage; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000209:etiology; D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012127:Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D011663:Pulmonary Surfactants; D010100:Oxygen