Abstract:Objective To carry out a meta-analysis on the published data in order to evaluate the therapeutic effect of noninvasive positive pressure ventilation on acute heart failure combined with respiratory failure (AHFRF). Methods A comprehensive search was performed in VIP (1989-2015), WANFANG (1999-2015), CNKI (1994-2015) and CAJD databases to collect the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in the treatment of AHFRF, and to analyze the RCTs using a meta-analysis method. Results A total of 1,779 patients were analyzed in the 24 RCTs which met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis results suggested that, compared with the conventional therapy group, the patients in the noninvasive positive pressure ventilation group had slower heart rate [test for overall effect: Z = 7.69, MD = -20.82, 95% CI (-26.13, -15.15), P = 0.000], slower respiratory rate [test for overall effect: Z = 21.61, MD = -6.56, 95% CI (-7.16, -5.97), P = 0.000], lower mortality rate [test for overall effect: Z = 2.95, ■= 0.33, 95% CI (0.16, 0.69), P = 0.003], higher blood oxygen saturation [test for overall effect: Z = 9.01, MD = 0.07, 95% CI (0.05, 0.08) P = 0.000] and clinical effective rate [test for overall effect: Z = 8.56, MD = 4.89, 95% CI (3.40, 7.03) P = 0.000]. Conclusions On the basis of conventional therapy, noninvasive positive pressure ventilation can significantly improve cardiorespiratory function and reduce mortality, and has definite clinical efficacy in the treatment of acute heart failure combined with respiratory failure.