HealthDay Reports: Established ARDS Therapy Aids Many Critically Ill With COVID-19
Many critically ill patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure managed with mechanical ventilation and established acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) protocols survive.
Established ARDS Therapy Aids Many Critically Ill With COVID-19
TUESDAY, May 12, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Many critically ill patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure managed with mechanical ventilation and established acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) protocols survive, according to a letter to the editor published online April 29 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
David R. Ziehr, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues present the respiratory pathophysiology of 66 adult patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure treated with invasive mechanical ventilation.
The researchers found that 85 percent of the patients met Berlin criteria for ARDS and most had mild-to-moderate ARDS. The median positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) was 10 cm H2O on intubation. The ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen was 150 in the 31 patients who underwent prone ventilation and compliance was 33 mL/cm H2O immediately before prone positioning and increased to 232 and 36 mL/cm H2O, respectively, after prone positioning.