Face-Down breathing: new study tests simple position change for COVID-19 lung failure
NCT ID NCT04632602
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looked at whether lying face down (prone position) while awake can improve how air moves through the lungs in COVID-19 patients with breathing failure. Twenty adults with COVID-19 and low oxygen levels were monitored using a special imaging technique (EIT) to measure lung ventilation. The goal was to see if this simple position change reduces uneven breathing, without testing long-term outcomes or treatments.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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20 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Apr 2020
- Finished
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Dec 2020
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * more than 18 Years (Adult, Older Adult) * Confirmed COVID-19 (positive SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR at nasopharyngeal swab) * Acute respiratory failure with 100 \< PaO2:FiO2\< 300 mmhg * Spontaneous ventilation with standard oxygen supply or high flow humidified oxygen * Written informed consent of the patient Exclusion Criteria: * Contra-indication to prone position including pregnancy * Presence of pacemaker * Severe hypoxemia with PaO2/FiO2 \< 100 mmHg * Evidence of clinical signs of respiratory distress with high probability of intubation in the next two hours
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Assistance Publique Höpitaux de Marseille
Marseille, 13354, France
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can an oral drug stop COVID-19 from turning deadly?