Table.
Baseline characteristics
| Total (n=21) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 68 (41–78) | |||
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 16 (76%) | |||
| Female | 5 (24%) | |||
| Comorbidity | 16 | |||
| Diabetes | 1 (7%) | |||
| Cardiovascular disease | 6 (38%) | |||
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 2 (13%) | |||
| Asthma | 0 | |||
| Active solid malignancy | 1 (7%) | |||
| Active haematological malignancy | 2 (13%) | |||
| Other* | 4 (25%) | |||
| Intoxications† | ||||
| Yes | 3 (14%) | |||
| No | 8 (38%) | |||
| Missing | 10 (48%) | |||
| Body-mass index, kg/m2 | 27 (26–32) | |||
| Hospital characteristics | ||||
| Hospital admittance‡ | 21 (100%) | |||
| Time between first symptoms and hospital admittance, days | 8 (5–14) | |||
| ICU admittance | 16 (76%) | |||
| Duration in ICU, days | 12 (8–20) | |||
| Invasive mechanical ventilation | 16 | |||
| Vasopressors | 16 | |||
| Continuous renal replacement therapy | 5 | |||
| Medication during admittance | 21 (100%) | |||
| Antibiotics | 20 (95%) | |||
| Chloroquine | 10 (48%) | |||
| Antiviral drugs | 4 (19%) | |||
| Antifungal | 9 (43%) | |||
| Steroids (high-dose)§ | 5 (24%) | |||
| Other disease manifestations | ||||
| Thromboembolic events | 10 (48%) | |||
| Deep venous thrombosis | 3 | |||
| Pulmonary embolism (thrombosis) | 6 | |||
| Both | 1 | |||
| Cardiac events | 13 (62%) | |||
| Arrhythmias | 12 | |||
| Ischaemic events | 0 | |||
| Heart failure | 1 | |||
| Renal failure¶ | 15 (71%) | |||
| KDIGO stage 1 | 2 | |||
| KDIGO stage 2 | 3 | |||
| KDIGO stage 3 | 10 | |||
| Neurological events | 10 (48%) | |||
| Delirium | 5 | |||
| Cerebrovascular accident (acute stroke) | 2 | |||
| Other‖ | 3 | |||
| Necrotising encephalitis | 1 | |||
| Hypoxic encephalopathy | 2 | |||
| Suprainfection (%) | 9 (43%) | |||
| Aspergillus** | 8 | |||
| Bacterial | 1 | |||
| Viral | 0 | |||
| Autopsy characteristics | ||||
| Disease course from symptom onset, days | 22 (5–44) | |||
| Time from death to autopsy, h | 15 (3–88) | |||
| Autopsy diagnosis cause of death | ||||
| COVID-19 pneumonia | 9 (43%) | |||
| Pulmonary embolism | 2 (10%) | |||
| Cerebrovascular accident (acute stroke) | 1 (5%) | |||
| Multiorgan failure | 7 (33%) | |||
| Other†† | 2 (10%) | |||
Data are median (range), number of patients (%), or number of patients. ICU=intensive care unit. KDIGO=Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes.
All neurological including one patient with Alzheimer's disease.
Intoxications in three patients were the use of tobacco or alcohol at the time of admittance; information only available in nine of 21 patients.
One male patient died a day after discharge from a conventional ward after admittance for COVID-19.
High-dose steroids were defined as more than 10 mg prednisone or more than 40 mg hydrocortisone per day according to local definitions.
Renal failure was defined according to the 2012 KDIGO guideline for acute kidney injury.15
Brain autopsy was done in the patient with necrotising encephalitis.
Other fungal infections were not found.
One patient died due to necrotising encephalitis and one due to bacterial peritonitis after abdominal surgery for solid malignancy (placement of gastrojejunostomy) with a subsequent anastomotic leak.