Project description:Purpose of reviewProne position has been widely used in the COVID-19 pandemic, with an extension of its use in patients with spontaneous breathing ('awake prone'). We herein propose a review of the current literature on prone position in mechanical ventilation and while spontaneous breathing in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia or COVID-19 ARDS.Recent findingsA literature search retrieved 70 studies separating whether patient was intubated (24 studies) or nonintubated (46 studies). The outcomes analyzed were intubation rate, mortality and respiratory response to prone. In nonintubated patient receiving prone position, the main finding was mortality reduction in ICU and outside ICU setting.SummaryThe final results of the several randomized control trials completed or ongoing are needed to confirm the trend of these results. In intubated patients, observational studies showed that responders to prone in terms of oxygenation had a better survival than nonresponders.
Project description:PurposeWhether the use of high-flow nasal oxygen in adult patients with COVID-19 associated acute respiratory failure improves clinically relevant outcomes remains unclear. We thus sought to assess the effect of high-flow nasal oxygen on ventilator-free days, compared to early initiation of invasive mechanical ventilation, on adult patients with COVID-19.MethodsWe conducted a multicentre cohort study using a prospectively collected database of patients with COVID-19 associated acute respiratory failure admitted to 36 Spanish and Andorran intensive care units (ICUs). Main exposure was the use of high-flow nasal oxygen (conservative group), while early invasive mechanical ventilation (within the first day of ICU admission; early intubation group) served as the comparator. The primary outcome was ventilator-free days at 28 days. ICU length of stay and all-cause in-hospital mortality served as secondary outcomes. We used propensity score matching to adjust for measured confounding.ResultsOut of 468 eligible patients, a total of 122 matched patients were included in the present analysis (61 for each group). When compared to early intubation, the use of high-flow nasal oxygen was associated with an increase in ventilator-free days (mean difference: 8.0 days; 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.4 to 11.7 days) and a reduction in ICU length of stay (mean difference: - 8.2 days; 95% CI - 12.7 to - 3.6 days). No difference was observed in all-cause in-hospital mortality between groups (odds ratio: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.25 to 1.64).ConclusionsThe use of high-flow nasal oxygen upon ICU admission in adult patients with COVID-19 related acute hypoxemic respiratory failure may lead to an increase in ventilator-free days and a reduction in ICU length of stay, when compared to early initiation of invasive mechanical ventilation. Future studies should confirm our findings.
Project description:Patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), exhibit a wide spectrum of disease behavior. Since DNA methylation has been implicated in the regulation of viral infections and the immune system, we performed an epigenome- wide association study (EWAS) to identify candidate loci regulated by this epigenetic mark that could be involved in the onset of COVID-19 in patients without comorbidities.
Project description:Respiratory failure and mortality from COVID-19 result from virus- and inflammation-induced lung tissue damage. The intestinal microbiome and associated metabolites are implicated in immune responses to respiratory viral infections, however their impact on progression of severe COVID-19 remains unclear. We prospectively enrolled 71 patients with COVID-19 associated critical illness, collected fecal specimens within 3 days of medical intensive care unit admission, defined microbiome compositions by shotgun metagenomic sequencing, and quantified microbiota-derived metabolites (NCT 04552834). Of the 71 patients, 39 survived and 32 died. Mortality was associated with increased representation of Proteobacteria in the fecal microbiota and decreased concentrations of fecal secondary bile acids and desaminotyrosine (DAT). A microbiome metabolic profile (MMP) that accounts for fecal secondary bile acids and desaminotyrosine concentrations was independently associated with progression of respiratory failure leading to mechanical ventilation. Our findings demonstrate that fecal microbiota composition and microbiota-derived metabolite concentrations can predict the trajectory of respiratory function and death in patients with severe SARS-Cov-2 infection and suggest that the gut-lung axis plays an important role in the recovery from COVID-19.
Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19's pulmonary manifestations are broad, ranging from pneumonia with no supplemental oxygen requirements to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with acute respiratory failure (ARF). In response, new oxygenation strategies and therapeutics have been developed, but their large-scale effects on outcomes in severe COVID-19 patients remain unknown. Therefore, we aimed to examine the trends in mortality, mechanical ventilation, and cost over the first six months of the pandemic for adult COVID-19 patients in the US who developed ARDS or ARF.Methods and findingsThe Vizient Clinical Data Base, a national database comprised of administrative, clinical, and financial data from academic medical centers, was queried for patients ≥ 18-years-old with COVID-19 and either ARDS or ARF admitted between 3/2020-8/2020. Demographics, mechanical ventilation, length of stay, total cost, mortality, and discharge status were collected. Mann-Kendall tests were used to assess for significant monotonic trends in total cost, mechanical ventilation, and mortality over time. Chi-square tests were used to compare mortality rates between March-May and June-August. 110,223 adult patients with COVID-19 ARDS or ARF were identified. Mean length of stay was 12.1±13.3 days and mean total cost was $35,991±32,496. Mechanical ventilation rates were 34.1% and in-hospital mortality was 22.5%. Mean cost trended downward over time (p = 0.02) from $55,275 (March) to $18,211 (August). Mechanical ventilation rates trended down (p<0.01) from 53.8% (March) to 20.3% (August). Overall mortality rates also decreased (p<0.01) from 28.4% (March) to 13.7% (August). Mortality rates in mechanically ventilated patients were similar over time (p = 0.45), but mortality in patients not requiring mechanical ventilation decreased from March-May compared to June-July (13.5% vs 4.6%, p<0.01).ConclusionsThis study describes the outcomes of a large cohort with COVID-19 ARDS or ARF and the subsequent decrease in cost, mechanical ventilation, and mortality over the first 6 months of the pandemic in the US.
Project description:PurposeThe outcomes of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 remain poorly defined. We sought to determine clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with COVID-19 managed with invasive mechanical ventilation in an appropriately resourced US health care system.MethodsOutcomes of COVID-19 infected patients requiring mechanical ventilation treated within the Inova Health System between March 5, 2020 and April 26, 2020 were evaluated through an electronic medical record review.Results1023 COVID-19 positive patients were admitted to the Inova Health System during the study period. Of these, 164 (16.0%) were managed with invasive mechanical ventilation. All patients were followed to definitive disposition. 70/164 patients (42.7%) had died and 94/164 (57.3%) were still alive. Deceased patients were older (median age of 66 vs. 55, p <0.0001) and had a higher initial d-dimer (2.22 vs. 1.31, p = 0.005) and peak ferritin levels (2998 vs. 2077, p = 0.016) compared to survivors. 84.3% of patients over 70 years old died in the hospital. Conversely, 67.4% of patients age 70 or younger survived to hospital discharge. Younger age, non-Caucasian race and treatment at a tertiary care center were all associated with survivor status.ConclusionMortality of patients with COVID-19 requiring invasive mechanical ventilation is high, with particularly daunting mortality seen in patients of advanced age, even in a well-resourced health care system. A substantial proportion of patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation were not of advanced age, and this group had a reasonable chance for recovery.
Project description:BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health concern. Recently, a genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed with participants recruited from Italy and Spain by an international consortium group.MethodsSummary GWAS statistics for 1610 patients with COVID-19 respiratory failure and 2205 controls were downloaded. In the current study, we analyzed the summary statistics with the information of loci and p-values for 8,582,968 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), using gene ontology analysis to determine the top biological processes implicated in respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients.ResultsWe considered the top 708 SNPs, using a p-value cutoff of 5 × 10- 5, which were mapped to the nearest genes, leading to 144 unique genes. The list of genes was input into a curated database to conduct gene ontology and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses. The top ranked biological processes were wound healing, epithelial structure maintenance, muscle system processes, and cardiac-relevant biological processes with a false discovery rate < 0.05. In the PPI analysis, the largest connected network consisted of 8 genes. Through a literature search, 7 out of the 8 gene products were found to be implicated in both pulmonary and cardiac diseases.ConclusionGene ontology and PPI analyses identified cardio-pulmonary processes that may partially explain the risk of respiratory failure in COVID-19 patients.