252nd ENMC international workshop: Developing best practice guidelines for management of mouthpiece ventilation in neuromuscular disorders. March 6th to 8th 2020, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The European Neuromuscular Centre (ENMC) has always supported the use of ventilatory support in neuromuscular disorders (NMD’s). There is a lack of provision of mouthpiece ventilation (MPV) and a lack of consensus with regard to how/when it can be delivered, The ENMC convened the 252nd ENMC International Workshop: Developing best practice guidelines for management of mouthpiece ventilation in Neuromuscular Disorders in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from the 6th to 8th March 2020. A total of 22 participants, 20 from Europe, one form the USA and one from Canada representing a total of 11 countries. The group included respiratory physicians, neurologists, nurses, respiratory physiotherapists all with specific experience in the provision of mouthpiece ventilation (MPV) in NMD, advocacy groups and patient representatives were also present, with the meeting program being available as an Online Supplement (1). We would like to highlight that the workshop took place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some institutions had issued a travel ban. In such cases some individuals contributed to the meeting via Skype. All talks and discussions led to the production of the best practice algorithm to initiate MPV in patients who require daytime ventilatory support.