How should patients who require mechanical ventilation be identified and how should initial ventilator settings be determined?

Questions from social media, blogs and the various discussion forums, including the new SCCM COVID-19 Discussion Group, were answered. This microlearning content was taken from the COVID-19 Critical Care for Non-ICU Clinicians: Expert Panel Series held on September 9, 2020.

Vitamin Treatment and Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibition in Patients with COVID-19

During this 1-hour activity expert faculty from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and the Society of Critical Care Medicine discussed the use of vitamins as adjunctive treatment in patients with COVID-19 as well as the role of Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitio...

Physiologic Response to Angiotensin II Treatment for Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Vasodilatory Shock: A Retrospective Matched Cohort Study

From Critical Care Explorations. In this study, the authors found that angiotensin-II treatment for coronavirus disease 2019–induced distributive shock was associated with rapid improvement in multiple physiologic indices and that angiotensin-II in coronavirus disease 2019–ind...

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Retrieval in Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case-Series of 19 Patients Supported at a High-Volume Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Center

From Critical Care Explorations. In this observational study, the authors concluded that extracorporeal membrane oxygenation retrieval can rescue young, previously healthy patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 in whom all the conventional respiratory measures have fail...

Persevering With Prone Ventilation in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia

From Critical Care Explorations. In this case study, the authors present a 53-year-old patient with a severe coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia who has made a remarkable recovery after a difficult period on intensive care.

Letter to the Editor: Declines in Mortality Over Time for Critically Ill Adults With Coronavirus Disease 2019

From Critical Care Medicine. In this Letter to the Editor, the authors report an update to a previous study, finding a decline in mortality rates in critically ill patients with COVID-19.

Caring for Critically Ill Children With Suspected or Proven Coronavirus Disease 2019 Infection: Recommendations by the Scientific Sections’ Collaborative of the European Society of Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care

From Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. In this article, the authors review the current clinical knowledge of coronavirus disease 2019 disease in critically ill children and discuss some specific treatment concepts based mainly on expert opinion based on limited experience and ...

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Associated With Coronavirus Disease 2019 in a Children's Hospital in New York City

From Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. In this article, the authors report their experience developing a clinical inpatient protocol for the evaluation, management, and follow-up of patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

Letter to the Editor: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Echo-Estimated Right and Left Heart Filling Pressures in Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

From Critical Care Explorations In this Letter to the Editor, the authors discuss their study in which they hypothesized that a significant proportion of coronavirus disease 2019 patients has evidence of pulmonary hypertension associated with elevated left heart filling pressu...

Clinical Outcomes Following Tocilizumab Administration in Mechanically Ventilated Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients

From Critical Care Explorations. In this study, the authors examined the outcomes of critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 patients treated with tocilizumab and factors associated with clinical improvement.

The POSITIONED Study: Prone Positioning in Nonventilated Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients - A Retrospective Analysis

From Critical Care Explorations. In this study, the authors investigated explored whether awake self-proning improved outcomes in coronavirus disease 2019-infected patients treated in a rural medical center with limited resources during a significant local coronavirus disease ...

Delayed Development of Coronary Artery Dilitation in Suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome: More Research Needed

From Critical Care Explorations. In this case report, the authors describe a pediatric patient with coronavirus disease-19-associated multisystem inflammatory syndrome without robust hyperinflammation and a delayed finding of coronary artery dilatation, which they believe high...

Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Four Critically Ill Pediatric Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Case Series

From Critical Care Explorations. In this case report, the authors report a series of four critically ill pediatric patients with acute respiratory failure who received coronavirus disease 2019 convalescent plasma as a treatment strategy for severe disease.

Antiviral Dosing Modification for Coronavirus Disease 2019–Infected Patients Receiving Extracorporeal Therapy

From Critical Care Explorations. In this study, the authors gathered available published resources including physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties and suggest antiviral drug dosing adaptation for coronavirus disease 2019–infected critically ill patients receiving extr...

Three-Dimensional Printed Ventilators: A Rapid Solution to Coronavirus Disease 2019–Induced Supply-Chain Shortages

From Critical Care Explorations. In this paper, the authors report that three-dimensional printed ventilators, such as "CRISIS," propose a potential solution to increase the available number of vents for the United States and abroad, one that is dynamic and able to absorb the ...

Quantification of Neurological Blood-Based Biomarkers in Critically Ill Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

From Critical Care Explorations. In this study, the authors sought to provide an objective characterization of acute neurologic injury in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

SCCM Pod-423 Coagulopathy in COVID-19 Patients

COVID-19 is associated with a high prevalence of coagulopathy and venous thromboembolism. Host B. Kyle Enfield, MD, FCCM, talks with Jerrold H. Levy, MD, FAHA, FCCM, about what clinicians need to know about this serious problem and how it impacts care delivery (Iba et al. Crit...

SCCM Pod-422 Procalcitonin in COVID-19 and Influenza-Related Secondary Bacterial Infections

Procalcitonin testing on admission seems to be a valuable piece of information for early risk assessment and ruling out bacterial co-infection in COVID-19 patients.

SCCM Pod-421 COVID-19 and Renal Replacement Therapy

The increase in acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients is resulting in more utilization of renal replacement therapy (RRT) and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).

The Impact of the Novel Coronavirus on Brazilian PICUs

From Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.  The authors evaluated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, considering the physical distancing and schools closing, on the characteristics of admission and epidemiology on Brazilian PICUs.