• Simone Piva, Matteo Filippini, Fabio Turla, Sergio Cattaneo, Alessio Margola, Silvia De Fulviis, Ida Nardiello, Alessandra Beretta, Laura Ferrari, Raffaella Trotta, Gloria Erbici, Emanuele Focà, Francesco Castelli, Frank Rasulo, Michael J Lanspa, and Nicola Latronico.
• Brescia University, Italy. Electronic address: simone.piva@unibs.it.
• J Crit Care. 2020 Aug 1; 58: 293329-33.

PurposeAn ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 that started in Hubei, China has resulted in massive strain on the healthcare infrastructure in Lombardy, Italy. The management of these patients is still evolving.Materials And MethodsThis is a single-center observational cohort study of critically ill patients infected with COVID-19. Bedside clinicians abstracted daily patient data on history, treatment, and short-term course. We describe management and a proposed severity scale for treatment used in this hospital.Results44 patients were enrolled; with incomplete information on 11. Of the 33 studied patients, 91% were male, median age 64; 88% were overweight or obese. 45% were hypertensive, 12% had been taking an ACE-inhibitor. Noninvasive ventilation was performed on 39% of patients for part or all or their ICU stay with no provider infection. Most patients received antibiotics for pneumonia. Patients also received lopinivir/ritonavir (82%), hydroxychloroquine (79%), and tocilizumab (12%) according to this treatment algorithm. Nine of 10 patients survived their ICU course and were transferred to the floor, with one dying in the ICU.ConclusionsICU patients with COVID-19 frequently have hypertension. Many could be managed with noninvasive ventilation, despite the risk of aerosolization. The use of a severity scale augmented clinician management.Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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