• Gregory D Burns, Justin S Phillips, Richard H Kallet, David V Glidden, Carolyn M Hendrickson, and John Z Metcalfe.
• Respiratory Care Division, Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, San Francisco, California. Gregory.burns@ucsf.edu.
• Respir Care. 2023 Oct 1; 68 (10): 134013461340-1346.

BackgroundPneumonia from COVID-19 that results in ARDS may require invasive mechanical ventilation. This retrospective study assessed the characteristics and outcomes of subjects with COVID-19-associated ARDS versus ARDS (non-COVID) during the first 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The primary objective was to determine whether mechanical ventilation duration differed between these cohorts and identify other potential contributory factors.MethodsWe retrospectively identified 73 subjects admitted between March 1 and August 12, 2020, with either COVID-19-associated ARDS (37) or ARDS (36) who were managed with the lung protective ventilator protocol and required >48 h of mechanical ventilation. Exclusion criteria were the following: <18 years old or the patient required tracheostomy or interfacility transfer. Demographic and baseline clinical data were collected at ARDS onset (ARDS day 0), with subsequent data collected on ARDS days 1-3, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 21. Comparisons were made by using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test (continuous variables) and chi-square test (categorical variables) stratified by COVID-19 status. A Cox proportional hazards model assessed the cause-specific hazard ratio for extubation.ResultsThe median (interquartile range) mechanical ventilation duration among the subjects who survived to extubation was longer in those with COVID-19-ARDS versus the subjects with non-COVID ARDS: 10 (6-20) d versus 4 (2-8) d; P < .001. Hospital mortality was not different between the two groups (22% vs 39%; P = .11). The competing risks Cox proportional hazard analysis (fit among the total sample, including non-survivors) revealed that improved compliance of the respiratory system and oxygenation were associated with the probability of extubation. Oxygenation improved at a lower rate in the subjects with COVID-19-associated ARDS than in the subjects with non-COVID ARDS.ConclusionsMechanical ventilation duration was longer in subjects with COVID-19-associated ARDS compared with the subjects with non-COVID ARDS, which may be explained by a lower rate of improvement in oxygenation status.Copyright © 2023 by Daedalus Enterprises.

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