Differential ventilation using flow control valves as a potential bridge to full ventilatory support during the COVID-19 crisis

Matthew Levin; Martin D Chen; Anjan Shah; Ronak Shah; George Zhou; Erica Kane; Garrett Burnett; Shams Ranginwala; Jonathan Madek; Christopher Gidiscin; Chang Park; Daniel Katz; Benjamin Salter; Roopa Kohli-Seth; James B Eisenkraft; Suzan Uysal; Michael McCarry; Andrew B Leibowitz; David L Reich

The flow control valve on Patient A was slowly dialed down until a tidal volume of ~6 ml/kg IBW was obtained. Tidal volumes for both patients initially decreased and airway pressures increased ( Figure 4 ). They then remained stable for 30 minutes. An arterial blood gas drawn at 30 minutes demonstrated that Patient A had developed a respiratory acidosis ( Table 2 ). The flow control valve for Patient A was slowly opened until a tidal volume of ~8 ml/kg IBW was achieved ( Figure 4 ). The patients were observed for another 30 minutes under these new All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.