RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Identifying Subjects at Risk for Diaphragm Atrophy During Mechanical Ventilation Using Routinely Available Clinical Data JF Respiratory Care FD American Association for Respiratory Care SP 551 OP 558 DO 10.4187/respcare.08223 VO 66 IS 4 A1 Martin Urner A1 Nicholas Mitsakakis A1 Stefannie Vorona A1 Lu Chen A1 Michael C Sklar A1 Martin Dres A1 Gordon D Rubenfeld A1 Laurent J Brochard A1 Niall D Ferguson A1 Eddy Fan A1 Ewan C Goligher YR 2021 UL http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/66/4/551.abstract AB BACKGROUND: Diaphragmatic respiratory effort during mechanical ventilation is an important determinant of patient outcome, but direct measurement of diaphragmatic contractility requires specialized instrumentation and technical expertise. We sought to determine whether routinely collected clinical variables can predict diaphragmatic contractility and stratify the risk of diaphragm atrophy.METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort study on diaphragm ultrasound in mechanically ventilated subjects. Clinical variables, such as breathing frequency, ventilator settings, and blood gases, were recorded longitudinally. Machine learning techniques were used to identify variables predicting diaphragm contractility and stratifying the risk of diaphragm atrophy (> 10% decrease in thickness from baseline). Performance of the variables was evaluated in mixed-effects logistic regression and random-effects tree models using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.RESULTS: Measurements were available for 761 study days in 191 subjects, of whom 73 (38%) developed diaphragm atrophy. No routinely collected clinical variable, alone or in combination, could accurately predict either diaphragm contractility or the development of diaphragm atrophy (model area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.63–0.75). The risk of diaphragm atrophy was not significantly different according to the presence or absence of patient-triggered breaths (38.3% vs 38.6%; odds ratio 1.01, 95% CI 0.05–2.03). Diaphragm thickening fraction < 15% during either of the first 2 d of the study was associated with a higher risk of atrophy (44.6% vs 26.1%; odds ratio 2.28, 95% CI 1.05–4.95).CONCLUSIONS: Diaphragmatic contractility and the risk of diaphragm atrophy could not be reliably determined from routinely collected clinical variables and ventilator settings. A single measurement of diaphragm thickening fraction measured within 48 h of initiating mechanical ventilation can be used to stratify the risk of diaphragm atrophy during mechanical ventilation.