Table 3 Physiological and clinical effects of high-intensity noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) [11, 17, 24–33]
Physiological effects

  • Improvement in blood gases during NPPV

  • Improvement in daytime blood gases during subsequent spontaneous breathing following periods of nocturnal NPPV

  • Improvement in breathing pattern with increased tidal volume during spontaneous breathing following periods of nocturnal NPPV

  • Improvement in lung function

  • Improvement in global inspiratory muscle strength

  • Increments in haematocrit in anaemic patients

  • Reduction of haematocrit in patients with polyglobulia

  • Superior to conventional (low-intensity) NPPV using assisted ventilation with low IPAP regarding the improvement of blood gases

Clinical effects

  • Improvement in HRQoL assessed by questionnaires specific to CRF

  • Improvement in dyspnoea during walking while breathing spontaneously

  • Improvement in dyspnoea and walking distance during NPPV-aided walking compared with walking unaided by NPPV

  • Acceptable sleep quality

  • Superior adherence to therapy versus conventional (low-intensity) NPPV using assisted ventilation with low IPAP