Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: CO2 Rebreathing by a Partial Rebreathing Mask as a Treatment of Chronic Idiopathic Hyperventilation - a Pilot Study
Brief Summary:
Background: Chronic Idiopathic Hyperventilation (CIH) is a form of dysfunctional breathing which has proven hard to treat effectively. The investigators hypothesised that by periodically inducing normocapnia over several weeks, it would be possible to raise the normal resting level/set point of CO2 and achieve a reduction of symptoms.
Methods: Six CIH patients were treated two hours a day for four weeks with a novel breathing mask. The mask was used to induce normocapnia in these chronically hypocapnic patients.
Capillary blood gases (PcCO2, pH, Standard Base Excess (SBE) etc.) were measured at baseline and once each week at least three hours after mask use, as well as spirometric values, breath holding tolerance and hyperventilation symptoms as per the Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ),.