Epidemiological characteristics, baseline clinical features, and outcomes of critically ill patients treated in a coronavirus disease 2019 tertiary center in continental Croatia

Scientific paper - Original scientific paper

• Author: Marcela Čučković
• Author: Željka Drmić
• Author: Marko Pražetina
• Author: Danijela Tipura
• Author: Maja Ćurčić
• Author: Ivan Miko
• Author: Antonija Mihelčić
• Author: Andrea Romić
• Author: Andrea Kukoč
• Author: Vanja Blagaj
• Author: Hrvoje Lasić
• Author: Emil Dolenc
• Author: Sonja Hleb
• Author: Hani Almahariq
• Author: Andrej Šribar
• Author: Jasminka Peršec
• Author: Ivica Lukšić
• Author's institution: University of Zagreb; School of Medicine; (Department of Maxillofacial Surgery and Dentistry)
• Scientific / art field, discipline and subdiscipline: BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTHCARE; Clinical Medical Sciences; Surgery

Abstract (english)

Aim: To describe epidemiological characteristics and baseline clinical features, laboratory findings at intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and survival rates of critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients treated at a tertiary institution specialized for COVID-19 patients.
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Methods: This retrospective study recruited 692 patients (67.1% men). Baseline demographic data, major comorbidities, anthropometric measurements, clinical features, and laboratory findings at admission were compared between survivors and non-survivors.
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Results: The median age was 72 (64-78) years. The median body mass index was 29.1 kg/m2. The most relevant comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (32.6%), arterial hypertension (71.2%), congestive heart failure (19.1%), chronic kidney disease (12.6%), and hematological disorders (10.3%). The median number of comorbidities was 3 and median Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was 5. A total of 61.8% patients received high-flow nasal oxygen therapy (HFNO) and 80.5% received mechanical ventilation (MV). Median duration of HFNO was 3, and that of MV was 7 days. ICU mortality rate was 72.7%. Survivors had significantly lower age, number of comorbidities, CCI, sequential organ failure assessment score, serum ferritin, C-reactive protein, D-dimer, and procalcitonin, interleukin-6, lactate, white blood cell, and neutrophil counts. They also had higher lymphocyte counts, PaO2/FiO2 ratio, and glomerular filtration rate at admission. Length of ICU stay was 9 days. The median survival was 11 days for mechanically ventilated patients, and 24 days for patients who were not mechanically ventilated.
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Conclusion: The parameters that differentiate survivors from non-survivors are in agreement with published data. Further multivariate analyses are warranted to identify individual mortality risk factors.

• Keywords (english): Aged; COVID-19 / epidemiology; COVID-19 / therapy; Critical Illness / epidemiology; Critical Illness / therapy; Croatia / epidemiology; Female; Humans; Intensive Care Units; Male; Respiration, Artificial; Retrospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2
• Language: english
• Publication type: Scientific paper - Original scientific paper
• Publication status: Published
• Peer review: Peer review
• Publication version: Published version
• Journal title: Croatian Medical Journal
• Numbering: vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 6-15
• p-ISSN: 0353-9504
• e-ISSN: 1332-8166
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2022.63.6
• URN:NBN: urn:nbn:hr:105:607781
• Publication: 2022-02-28
• Document URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8895330/
• Type of resource: Text
• Access conditions: Open access
• Created on: 2022-05-19 11:35:56