Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Unknown status
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Early Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (BLPAP) Ventilation for Acute Chest Syndrome (ACS) - a Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Pilot Study
Brief Summary: Acute chest syndrome (ACS) is a frequent complication of sickle cell disease and is diagnosed by having findings on a chest x-ray and one of the following: chest pain, fever, or trouble breathing. Patients with Acute Chest Syndrome can get very sick and require an exchange transfusion (special large blood transfusion) and mechanical ventilation. Bi-level Positive Airway Pressure (BLPAP) is a device that blows air into a patients lungs via a mask that covers the nose. Our goal is to determine whether giving children BLPAP when they have ACS, in addition to providing standard clinical care for ACS alters the clinical course of these patients. The investigators hypothesize that patients receiving effective BLPAP will have milder clinical courses resulting in shorter hospital stays and fewer transfers to the intensive care unit and exchange transfusions.