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Editorial: Coronavirus Disease 2019 Acute Respiratory Failure: Almitrine Drug Resuscitation or Resuscitating Patients by Almitrine?

From Critical Care Medicine

In this editorial, the author discusses the seeming benefits of using almitrine for severe hypoxia in patients with coronavirus disease 19 induced acute respiratory distress syndrome.


Early Percutaneous Tracheostomy in Coronavirus Disease 2019: Association With Hospital Mortality and Factors Associated With Removal of Tracheostomy Tube at ICU Discharge. A Cohort Study on 121 Patients

From Critical Care Medicine

This study shows how early percutaneous tracheostomy was safe and effective in coronavirus disease 2019 patients, giving a good chance of survival and of weaning from tracheostomy cannula at ICU discharge.


Frequency and Analysis of Unplanned Extubation in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients

From Critical Care Explorations

The authors found that coronavirus disease 2019 patients have a higher incidence of unplanned extubation that requires reintubation than noncoronavirus disease 2019 patients.


Timing of Tracheostomy for Prolonged Respiratory Wean in Critically Ill Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients: A Machine Learning Approach

From Critical Care Explorations

The authors found that the optimal window for consideration of tracheostomy for ventilatory weaning in coronavirus disease 2019 patients is between day 13 and 17.


A Propensity-Matched Cohort Study of Tocilizumab in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

From Critical Care Explorations

The authors assessed the impact of tocilizumab therapy and found that it was associated with significantly improved survival in coronavirus disease 2019 patients.


Inflammatory Response and Phenotyping in Severe Acute Respiratory Infection From the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Other Etiologies

From Critical Care Medicine

The authors evaluated the inflammatory response in patients with severe acute respiratory infection due to the Middle East respiratory syndrome and non-Middle East respiratory syndrome and assessed the presence of distinct inflammatory subphenotypes using latent class analysis.


Propofol-Associated Hypertriglyceridemia in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Versus Noncoronavirus Disease 2019 Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

From Critical Care Explorations

In this study, the authors found that patients with coronavirus disease 2019 acute respiratory distress syndrome experienced a higher rate of propofol-associated hypertriglyceridemia than noncoronavirus disease 2019 acute respiratory distress syndrome patients, even after accounting for differences in propofol administration.


Thromboembolism, Hypercoagulopathy, and Antiphospholipid Antibodies in Critically Ill Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients: A Before and After Study of Enhanced Anticoagulation

From Critical Care Explorations

In this study, the authors sought to determine the prevalence of thrombotic events, functional coagulation tests, inflammatory biomarkers, and antiphospholipid antibodies before and after enhanced anticoagulation in critically ill coronavirus disease 2019 patients.


Capillary Leukocytes, Microaggregates, and the Response to Hypoxemia in the Microcirculation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients

From Critical Care Medicine. In this study, the authors hypothesized that coronavirus disease 2019 patients exhibit sublingual microcirculatory alterations caused by inflammation, coagulopathy, and hypoxemia.


A Case-Control Study of Prone Positioning in Awake and Nonintubated Hospitalized Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients

From Critical Care Explorations. In this study, the authors found no significant association with reduced risk of invasive mechanical ventilation or inhospital mortality after adjusting for baseline severity of illness and oxygenation status.


Cardiovascular Disease and Severe Hypoxemia Are Associated With Higher Rates of Noninvasive Respiratory Support Failure in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pneumonia

From Critical Care Explorations. The authors describe outcomes with high-flow oxygen delivered through nasal cannula and noninvasive positive pressure ventilation in coronavirus disease 2019 acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and identify individual factors associated with noninvasive respiratory support failure.


Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 During Aerosol-Generating Procedures in Critical Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies

From Critical Care Medicine. In this study, the authors found that personal protective equipment reduce the odds of contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.


Online Letter to the Editor: Early Percutaneous Tracheostomy in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Era: Shining New Light on Old Questions

From Critical Care Medicine. In this Online Letter to the Editor, the authors comment on an article by Rosano et al. in which it was demonstrated that early tracheostomy can be performed with acceptable safety in the midst of a pandemic and note that the study raises important questions related to the downsides of routinely performing tracheostomy, tailoring timing of tracheostomy and optimal protocols for decannulation.


Virtual Communication Embedded Bedside ICU Rounds: A Hybrid Rounds Practice Adapted to the Coronavirus Pandemic

From Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. In this article, the authors found that hybrid rounds employed during pandemic facilitated social distancing while retaining patient-centered multidisciplinary ICU rounds but compromised teaching during rounds.


Standard Sedation and Sedation With Isoflurane in Mechanically Ventilated Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019

From Critical Care Explorations. The authors describe sedative and analgesic drug utilization in a cohort of critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 and compare standard sedation with an alternative approach using inhaled isoflurane.


Editorial: Be Careful and Protect Yourself, It Is in the Air

From Critical Care Medicine. In this editorial, the authors discuss hospital staff safety in the article "Transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 1 and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 During Aerosol-Generating Procedures in Critical Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies" by Chan et al.


In Vitro–Administered Dexamethasone Suppresses T Cell Function With Reversal by Interleukin-7 in Coronavirus Disease 2019

From Critical Care Explorations. The authors evaluated the in vitro effects of dexamethasone phosphate on T cell function in peripheral blood mononuclear cells derived from patients with acute, severe, and moderate coronavirus disease 2019.


Prone Positioning of Nonintubated Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

From Critical Care Medicine. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors found that, despite the significant variability in frequency and duration of prone positioning and respiratory supports applied, prone positioning was associated with improvement in oxygenation variables without any reported serious adverse events.


Comparison of Circulating Immune Cells Profiles and Kinetics Between Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Bacterial Sepsis

From Critical Care Medicine.  In this article the authors present a longitudinal analysis of the immune response in coronavirus disease 2019 patients, its correlation with outcome, and comparison between severe coronavirus disease 2019 patients and septic patients. They conclude that severe coronavirus disease 2019 is associated with a unique immune profile as compared with sepsis. Several immune features are associated with outcome and suggest that immune monitoring of coronavirus disease 2019 might be helpful for patient management.


Is Microthrombosis the Main Pathology in Coronavirus Disease 2019 Severity?—A Systematic Review of the Postmortem Pathologic Findings

From Critical Care Explorations.  In this systematic review, the authors attempted to retrieve and report the findings of postmortem studies including the histopathologic data of deceased coronavirus disease 2019 patients and to review the manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019–associated thrombotic pathologies reported in the recent literature. Diffuse alveolar damage was the most predominant feature in the lungs of coronavirus disease 2019 patients who underwent postmortem assessment. Widespread pulmonary microthrombosis and extensive pulmonary angiogenesis, in addition to frequent pulmonary and extrapulmonary microthrombotic and thromboembolic findings in patients with coronavirus disease 2019, appear to be consistent with the disease-specific hypercoagulability.