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Frontiers of Medicine >> 2020, Volume 14, Issue 5 doi: 10.1007/s11684-020-0796-3

Successful management of seven cases of critical COVID-19 with early noninvasive–invasive sequential ventilation algorithm and bundle pharmacotherapy

. Department of Intensive Care Unit, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518001, China;.. Department of Intensive Care Unit, Shenzhen People’s Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Shenzhen 518020, China;.. Department of Intensive Care Unit, The Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518112, China;.. Department of Intensive Care Unit, The Second People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518035, China;.. Department of Intensive Care Unit, Shenzhen Longgang Central Hospital, Shenzhen 518116, China;.. Department of Dermatology, Shenzhen University General Hospital, Shenzhen 518055, China;.. Department of Intensive Care Unit, Shenzhen Baoan District People’s Hospital, Shenzhen 518101, China

Received: 2020-06-28 Accepted: 2020-08-06 Available online: 2020-08-06

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Abstract

We report the clinical and laboratory findings and successful management of seven patients with critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requiring mechanical ventilation (MV). The patients were diagnosed based on epidemiological history, clinical manifestations, and nucleic acid testing. Upon diagnosis with COVID-19 of critical severity, the patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, where they received early noninvasive–invasive sequential ventilation, early prone positioning, and bundle pharmacotherapy regimen, which consists of antiviral, anti-inflammation, immune-enhancing, and complication-prophylaxis medicines. The patients presented fever ( = 7, 100%), dry cough ( = 3, 42.9%), weakness ( = 2, 28.6%), chest tightness ( = 1, 14.3%), and/or muscle pain ( = 1, 14.3%). All patients had normal or lower than normal white blood cell count/lymphocyte count, and chest computed tomography scans showed bilateral patchy shadows or ground glass opacity in the lungs. Nucleic acid testing confirmed COVID-19 in all seven patients. The median MV duration and intensive care unit stay were 9.9 days (interquartile range, 6.5–14.6 days; range, 5–17 days) and 12.9 days (interquartile range, 9.7–17.6 days; range, 7–19 days), respectively. All seven patients were extubated, weaned off MV, transferred to the common ward, and discharged as of the writing of this report. Thus, we concluded that good outcomes for patients with critical COVID-19 can be achieved with early noninvasive–invasive sequential ventilation and bundle pharmacotherapy.

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