35.7 percent of 165 patients requiring mechanical ventilation died, while overall mortality was 30.9 percent
TUESDAY, June 9, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Most patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) recover, with a mortality rate of 35.7 percent for those on mechanical ventilation, according to a study published online May 26 in Critical Care Medicine.
Sara C. Auld, M.D., from the Emory Critical Care Center in Atlanta, and colleagues conducted an observational study involving patients admitted from March 6 to April 17, 2020, to six COVID-19-designated ICUs within an academic health center network in Atlanta. Data were included for 217 critically ill patients.
The researchers found that 35.7 percent of the 165 patients who required mechanical ventilation died, with 4.8 percent of the patients still on the ventilator at the time of writing. Overall mortality within the cohort was 30.9 percent; 60.4 percent of patients survived to hospital discharge. Significant associations were seen for mortality with older age, lower body mass index, chronic renal disease, higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, lower ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen, higher D-dimer, higher C-reactive protein, and receipt of mechanical ventilation, vasopressors, renal replacement therapy, or vasodilator therapy.
"These results suggest that most patients with acute respiratory failure from COVID-19 may recover, even with severe disease requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation," the authors write.
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