• C Arnold-Day, R N Van Zyl-Smit, I A Joubert, D A Thomson, D L Fredericks, MillerM G AMGA, W L Michell, P L Semple, and J L Piercy.
• Division of Critical Care, Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. jenna.piercy@uct.ac.za.
• S. Afr. Med. J. 2022 Feb 2; 112 (1): 13516.

BackgroundUp to 32% of patients with COVID-19 pneumonia may require intensive care unit (ICU) admission or mechanical ventilation. Data from low- and middle-income countries on COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are limited. Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, expanded its intensive care service to support patients with COVID-19 ARDS requiring invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV).ObjectivesTo report on patients' characteristics and outcomes from the first two pandemic waves.MethodsAll patients with COVID-19 ARDS admitted to the ICU for IMV were included in this prospective cohort study. Data were collected from 5 April 2020 to 5 April 2021.ResultsOver the 12-month study period, 461 patients were admitted to the designated COVID-19 ICU. Of these, 380 met the study criteria and 377 had confirmed hospital discharge outcomes. The median (range) age of patients was 51 (17 - 71) years, 50.5% were female, and the median (interquartile range (IQR)) body mass index was 32 (28 - 38) kg/m2. The median (IQR) arterial oxygen partial pressure to fractional inspired oxygen (P/F) ratio was 97 (71 - 128) after IMV was initiated. Comorbidities included diabetes (47.6%), hypertension (46.3%) and HIV infection (10.5%). Of the patients admitted, 30.8% survived to hospital discharge with a median (IQR) ICU length of stay of 19.5 (9 - 36) days. Predictors of mortality after adjusting for confounders were male sex (odds ratio (OR) 1.74), increasing age (OR 1.04) and higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (OR 1.29).ConclusionsIn a resource-limited environment, the provision of IMV support in the ICU achieved 30.8% hospital survival in patients with COVID-19 ARDS. The ability to predict survival remains difficult given this complex disease.

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