In healthy subjects previous studies showed that most swallows started during expiration and were followed by expiration, a pattern believed to contribute to airway protection during swallowing. However In healthy individuals, the occurrence of inspiration after swallows was increased by hypercapnia or application of an inspiratory elastic load.
In a previous study the investigators have demonstrated that patients with neuromuscular disorders exhibited piecemeal deglutition leading to an increase in the time needed to swallow a water bolus, as well as occurrence of inspiration after nearly half the swallows. These abnormalities which increased with the decreasing of respiratory muscle performances may explain feeding difficulties. However in tracheostomized patients who could breathe spontaneously, piecemeal deglutition and swallowing time per bolus were diminished by the use of mechanical ventilation.
In the investigators' knowledge there are no data about the impact of non invasive mechanical ventilation on the breathing-swallowing interaction.
The investigators' main objective is to evaluate breathing-swallowing interaction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients hospitalized in intensive care unit for an acute exacerbation, and evaluate the impact of using non invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV)
