• Nicolas Colaianni-Alfonso, Guillermo Montiel, Mauro Castro-Sayat, Catalina Siroti, Maria Laura Vega, Ada Toledo, Santiago Haedo, Ignacio Previgliano, Guido Mazzinari, and Miguel Alonso-ÍñigoJoséJHospital Universitario y Politécnico la Fe, Valencia, Spain. Research Group in Perioperative Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology..
• Respiratory Intermediate Care Unit, Hospital Juan A. Fernández, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Department of Pneumology. nicolkf@gmail.com.
• Respir Care. 2021 Dec 1; 66 (12): 183118391831-1839.

BackgroundThe roles of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) and CPAP in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are controversial. The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of the application of a noninvasive respiratory support algorithm on clinical outcomes in subjects with COVID-19 and with acute respiratory failure.MethodsWe performed a single-center prospective observational study of subjects with respiratory failure from COVID-19 managed with HFNC and with CPAP plus HFNC (combined therapy). The main outcome was the intubation rate, which defined failure of therapy. We also analyzed the role of the ROX index ([[Formula: see text]/[Formula: see text]]/breathing frequency) to predict the need for intubation.ResultsFrom June to December 2020, 113 subjects with COVID-19 respiratory failure were admitted to our respiratory intermediate care unit. HFNC was applied in 65 subjects (57.52%) and combined therapy in 48 subjects (42.47%). A total of 83 subjects (73.45%) were successfully treated with noninvasive respiratory support. The intubation rate was 26.54%, and the overall mortality rate was 14.15%. The mortality rate in subjects who were intubated was 55.2%. An ROX index of 6.28 at 12 h predicted noninvasive respiratory support failure, with 97.6% sensitivity and 51.8% specificity.ConclusionsData from our cohort managed in a respiratory intermediate care unit showed that combined noninvasive respiratory support was feasible, with favorable outcomes. Further prospective studies are required.Copyright © 2021 by Daedalus Enterprises.

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