BACKGROUND: In children with congenital heart disease, extubation readiness testing (ERT) is performed to evaluate the potential for liberation from mechanical ventilation. There is a paucity of data that suggests what mechanical ventilation parameters are associated with successful ERT. We hypothesized that ERT success would be associated with certain mechanical ventilator parameters.

METHODS: Data on daily ERT assessments were recorded as part of a quality improvement project. In accordance with our respiratory therapist–driven ventilator protocol, patients were assessed daily for ERT eligibility and tested daily, if eligible. Mechanical ventilation parameters were categorized a priori to evaluate the differences in levels of respiratory support. The primary outcome was ERT success.

RESULTS: A total of 780 ERTs from 320 subjects (median [interquartile range] age 2.5 [0.6–6.5] months and median weight [interquartile range] 4.2 [3.3–6.9] kg) were evaluated. A total of 528 ERTs (68%) were passed, 306 successful ERTs (58%) resulted in extubation, and 30 subjects (9.4%) were re-intubated. There were statistically significant differences in the ERT pass rate for ventilator mode, peak inspiratory pressure, Δ pressure, PEEP, mean airway pressure ( ), and dead-space–to–tidal-volume ratio (all P < .001) but not for . ERT success decreased with increases in peak inspiratory pressure, Δ pressure, PEEP, , and dead-space–to–tidal-volume ratio. Logistic regression revealed neonates, Δ pressure ≥ 11 cm H2O, and > 10 cm H2O were associated with a decreased odds of ERT success, whereas children ages 1–5 years and an of 0.31-0.40 had increased odds of ERT success.

CONCLUSIONS: ERT pass rates decreased as ventilator support increased; however, some subjects were able to pass ERT despite high ventilator support. We found that was associated with ERT success and that protocols should consider using instead of PEEP thresholds for ERT eligibility. Cyanotic lesions were not associated with ERT success, which suggests that patients with cyanotic heart disease can be included in ERT protocols.