Home Mechanical Ventilation vs Home Oxygen Therapy in COPD

This study is designed to investigate the effect of home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The purpose of the trial is to test the hypothesis that HMV and longterm oxygen therapy (LTOT) increases admission free survival compared with LTOT alone. More specifically, compared with LTOT, HMV and LTOT reduces hospital re-admission in COPD patients who remain persistently hypercapnic following an acute exacerbation requiring non-invasive ventilation (NIV).