PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Sarah Kent AU - Catherine Olden AU - Heike Rabe AU - Paul Seddon TI - Validity of volumetric vest respiratory measurements in preterm infants with changes in posture DP - 2011 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - p1121 VI - 38 IP - Suppl 55 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1121.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p1121.full SO - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38 AB - Respiratory measurements in unsedated infants are problematic: applying a face mask causes arousal and changes respiratory pattern. We have previously validated a volumetric vest system (FloRight) in normal newborn infants. However, other calibrated chest wall measurements (eg Respitrace) lose validity if posture or chest shape changes.In order to assess whether this system remained valid with chest distortion and changes in posture, we measured tidal breathing in 11 preterm infants (median 30 weeks at birth) simultaneously by mask/ultrasonic flowmeter and Floright, both in supine (S) and randomised right or left lateral position (L). The following tidal breathing parameters were compared over 20 breaths of stable breathing in quiet sleep: tidal volume (Vt), timing of peak tidal expiratory flow (tPTEF/tE) and expiratory:inspiratory time ratio (tE/tI).FloRight measurements were closely correlated with mask measurements in both S and L: Vt S r=0.99, L r=0.99; tPTEF/tE 0.94 and 0.96, tE/tI 0.97 and 0.96. FloRight Vt measurements were slightly but significantly higher than mask, both in S (+2ml, p=0.02) and L (+4ml, p=0.001) but tPTEF/tE and tE/tI measurements were not significantly different.FloRight accurately measures tidal flow timing parameters in small preterm infants both in supine and lateral posture. Tidal volume measurements are highly correlated but slightly overestimated compared to mask, especially in lateral lying: this could be due to the vest not fully conforming to chest distortion.