TABLE 1.
Demographics, gravity scores, respiratory function and support at ICU admission and outcomes
| Patients n | 20 |
| Age years, mean±sd | 60±15 |
| Female sex, n (%) | 4 (20) |
| Body mass index, mean±sd | 27±3 |
| Medical history, n (%) | |
| Hypertension | 7 (35) |
| Diabetes | 8 (40) |
| Ischaemic cardiomyopathy | 3 (15) |
| Stroke | 1 (5) |
| Chronic lung disease | 1 (5) |
| Solid organ cancer, haematological malignancy | 3 (15) |
| Chronic renal failure | 0 (0) |
| Simplified acute physiology score 2, mean±sd | 31±12 |
| Sepsis organ failure assessment score, mean±sd | 3±2 |
| Delay between onset of symptoms to ICU admission, days, mean± sd | 7±4 |
| Respiratory function at ICU admission, mean±sd | |
| Transcutaneous peripheral saturation % | 93±4 |
| Respiratory rate cycles per minute | 29±8 |
| Borg scale ranking | 3±2 |
| Arterial pH | 7.49±0.03 |
| PaCO2 mmHg | 33±4 |
| PaO2:FIO2 mmHg | 146±39 |
| Arterial oxygen saturation % | 96±2 |
| Arterial lactate mmol·L−1 | 1.5±0.6 |
| CT scan characteristics at ICU admission, n (%) | |
| Diffuse and bilateral pattern | 20 (100) |
| Ground-glass opacities | |
| <25% | 4 (20) |
| 25–50% | 9 (45) |
| >75% | 7 (35) |
| Consolidation | 5 (25) |
| Crazy paving | 7 (35) |
| Respiratory support at ICU admission | |
| O2 non-rebreathing mask, n (%) | 4 (20) |
| O2 L·min−1, mean±sd | 12±2 |
| High-flow nasal cannula, n (%) | 16 (80) |
| O2 flow L·min−1, mean±sd | 47±7 |
| O2 inspired fraction %, mean±sd | 59±17 |
| Outcomes | |
| Intubation during ICU stay, n (%) | 3 (15) |
| Duration of mechanical ventilation days, mean±sd | 15±6 |
| ICU mortality, n (%) | 1 (5) |
| Hospital mortality, n (%) | 1 (5) |
ICU: intensive care unit; sd: standard deviation; PaCO2: arterial carbon dioxide tension; PaO2:FIO2: arterial oxygen tension:inspiratory oxygen fraction; CT: computed tomography.