Category: Critical Care
Posted: 1/19/2021 by Lindsay Ritter, MD
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| Ever wonder what to tell the families regarding prognosis of the sickest COVID-19 patients you intubate in the ED or ICU? Introduction: Case fatality rates (CFR) for COVID-19 patients requiring invasive mechanical ventilation have been widely variable. A study in the Blue Journal (AJRCCM) examined patients requiring intubation in a systemic review and meta-analysis. The case fatality risk of an infection is represented by the proportion of patients who die among all infected cases in a population over a period of time. Methods: 69 studies axross 23 countries for a total of 57,420 patients with COVID-19 who required mechanical ventilation were included in analysis. Results: Overall case fatality rate was 45%, or about 1 death for every two intubated patients.. Among studies that included age stratification, pooled estimates of CFR were 47.9% in patients <40 (CI 46.4-49.4%) and 84.4% in patients >80 (CI 83.3-85.4%). Overall heterogeneity is high (I 2 .90%), In early COVID epicenters, CFR was 70% among patients aged more than 60 years of age. CFR increased exponentially with increasing age. Specifically in the US across 21 studies (3,811 intubated patients), CFR was 47% (95% CI, 36–57%). Studies from New York reported a CFR of 54% (95% CI, 36–72%) whereas other regions in the United States reported a CFR of 41% (95% CI, 30–53%). Definitive hospital CFR (aka for those with hospital discharge outcomes, 13,120 patients) was 56% (CI 47-65%). Conclusion: Almost half of patients with COVID-19 receiving IMV died based on the reported CFR. The reported CFR was higher in older patients and in early pandemic epicenters, which may be influenced by limited ICU resources. Limitations: Overall CFR of 45% still included patients in the hospital. Definitive hospital outcomes were only for 13,120 patients (36.6%). Significant variation in CFR exists between studies. |
Lim ZJ, Subramaniam A, Ponnapa Reddy M, Blecher G, Kadam U, Afroz A, Billah B, Ashwin S, Kubicki M, Bilotta F, Curtis JR, Rubulotta F. Case Fatality Rates for Patients with COVID-19 Requiring Invasive Mechanical Ventilation. A Meta-analysis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021 Jan 1;203(1):54-66.
Angriman F, Scales DC. Estimating the Case Fatality Risk of COVID-19 among Mechanically Ventilated Patients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2021 Jan 1;203(1):3-4.
