Increased Driving Pressure During Assisted Ventilation for Hypoxemic Respiratory Failure Is Associated with Lower ICU Survival: The ICEBERG Study

  • Alice Grassi
  • , Isabella Bianchi
  • , Maddalena Teggia Droghi
  • , Sara Miori
  • , Ilaria Bruno
  • , Eleonora Balzani
  • , Idunn S Morris
  • , Dirk Schaedler
  • , Tobias Becher
  • , Manuel Valdivia Marchal
  • , Jose M Serrano
  • , Oriol Caritg
  • , Oriol Roca
  • , Eduardo Costa
  • , Marcelo Amato
  • , Fernando Barriga
  • , Rollin Roldan
  • , Andrea Boffi
  • , Lise Piquilloud
  • , Gregory J Mitchon
  • Guido Musch, Simone Piva, Michele Bertoni, Luigi Castagna, Giacomo Grasselli, Matteo Riccardo, Savino Spadaro, Ciprian Nita, Bairbre McNicholas, Michael C Sklar, Aurora Magliocca, Emanuele Rezoagli, Giuseppe Foti, John Laffey, Laurent J Brochard, Ewan C Goligher, Giacomo Bellani

    Research output: Contribution to a Journal (Peer & Non Peer)Articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    RATIONALE: Driving pressure is marker of severity and a possible target for lung protection during controlled ventilation, but its value during assisted ventilation is unknown. Inspiratory holds provide an estimate of driving pressure (quasi-static). Expiratory holds provide an estimate of the inspiratory effort, useful to estimate the transpulmonary dynamic driving pressure.

    OBJECTIVES: To assess the correlation between driving pressures measured during assisted ventilation and ICU outcomes.

    METHODS: Multicenter prospective observational study. Patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were enrolled within 48 hours of triggering the ventilator. Respiratory mechanics were measured daily and the variables of interest averaged over the first three days of partial assistance. ICU outcomes were collected until day 90.

    MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Two-hundred ninety-eight patients from 16 centers were enrolled. Tidal volume, peak airway pressure, positive-end-expiratory-pressure and inspiratory effort during the first three days of assisted ventilation did not differ between survivors and non-survivors. Quasi-static driving pressure and transpulmonary dynamic driving pressure were higher in non-survivors than in survivors (13 [11,14] vs 11 [9,13] cmH2O, p<0.001 and 19 [16,23] vs 16 [13,18] cmH2O, p<0.001, respectively), while compliance normalized to predicted body weight was lower (0.65 [0.54,0.84] vs 0.79 [0.64,0.97] ml/cmH2O/kg, p<0.001). Multivariable analysis confirmed the association with outcome. Over study days, static driving pressure significantly diverged between survivors and non-survivors.

    CONCLUSIONS: During assisted ventilation driving pressure and normalized compliance are associated with ICU outcome, despite some overlap. Albeit our study does not allow to estimate if driving pressure is a marker of severity, or a cause of lung injury, it highlights the potential value of monitoring and targeting it during spontaneous assisted breathing.

    Original languageEnglish
    JournalAmerican Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 20 Jun 2025

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