According to a study published in JAMA, children surviving an episode of acute respiratory failure that warrants invasive mechanical ventilation may have a risk for slightly lower long-term neurocognitive function.

Researchers assessed a subset of participants in the Randomized Evaluation of Sedation Titration for Respiratory Failure (RESTORE) trial of children receiving mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory failure. For the present study (RESTORE-Cognition), they evaluated several domains of neurocognitive function after 3 to 8 years of hospital discharge in trial patients without a history of neurocognitive dysfunction and matched healthy siblings.

Researchers noted that the IQ was lower in children without previous neurocognitive dysfunction who survived pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission for acute respiratory failure, in comparison with their biological siblings. While the extent of difference was small on average, more than double the patients than their siblings had an IQ of ≤85. Additionally, children hospitalized at the youngest ages fared worse than their siblings… (Medscape)