Announcing the thesis of Pien Swart, highlighting sex differences in mechanical ventilation, following international women's day

Following International Women’s Day, ACS is proud to announce the upcoming PhD defense of Pien Swart. Her thesis uncovers persistent sex-based disparities in mechanical ventilation, calling for more equitable and personalized care in critical settings.

Historical Bias in Research

For decades, medical research has focused primarily on male subjects, both in clinical and preclinical studies. “This male-centred approach has left us with a limited understanding of how diseases affect women and how they respond to treatment,” says Swart. As a result, women have often been underdiagnosed and undertreated, especially in fields like intensive care medicine and anesthesiology.

Key Findings: Sex-Based Disparities

Swart analyzed large international datasets and found that women are more likely than men to receive ventilation settings that do not match their lung size, exposing them to unnecessary lung stress. “Our data show that these differences are only partly explained by body height and weight,” Swart explains. “There are also intrinsic physiological differences between the sexes that influence how we should ventilate patients.”

Towards Equitable Care

Importantly, the thesis shows that these disparities are not inevitable. Standardized and automated care strategies, such as accurate height measurement, structured decision support, and closed-loop ventilation, can help ensure more equitable and safer ventilation for all patients. “By explicitly incorporating sex and body size into clinical guidelines and technology, we can improve care quality and safety for everyone,” Dr. Swart emphasizes.

A Timely Message

With International Women’s Day just behind us and Dr. Swart’s public defense scheduled for March 13th, this research is a timely reminder of the importance of sex equity in healthcare. “Equity in healthcare is not achieved by treating everyone the same, but by understanding how they differ,” concludes Dr. Swart.