HFNC Alone or Associated With NIV for Immunocompromised Patients Admitted to ICU for Acute Respiratory Failure

Acute respiratory failure is the leading cause of ICU admission of immunocompromized patients. In this subgroup of patients, the need for intubation and invasive mechanical ventilation occurs in about 50% of cases and is associated with very a high mortality rate, reaching 70% of cases. Therefore, noninvasive oxygenation strategies have been developed to avoid intubation. More than 15 years ago, 2 trials have suggested that NIV could decrease intubation and mortality rates of immunocompromized patients as compared to standard oxygen through a mask. However these results have not been confirmed in a recent large trial. HFNC is a recent and well-tolerated oxygenation technique. In a recent trial, HFNC alone could decrease mortality and intubation rates in patients with ARF as compared to NIV. Similar findings have been reported in a post-hoc analysis on immunocompromized patients excluding those with profound neutropenia. Likewise in a retrospective monocentric cohort of immunocompromized patients, we reported better outcomes with HFNC than with NIV.