Characteristics of patients with severe and extremely severe SARS-CoV-2 infection treated in the intensive care unit of Nalchik Hospital No 1

Abstract

The first patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection were registered in Kabardino-Balkar Republic (KBR) in the end of March 2020, when Hospital No 1 at the Center for AIDS and Infectious Diseases was completely equipped for the admission of COVID-19 patients. Objective. To assess clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with severe and extremely severe COVID-19 treated in the intensive care unit of Hospital No 1 in Nalchik in 2020–2021. Patients and methods. A total of 283 patients were treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) during this year. More that one-third of patients (41.3%) died; most of them were male. The majority of patients in the ICU were between 61 and 70 years of age; the majority of deaths were registered among patients aged 71 to 80 years. One hundred and seventy-three individuals in the ICU required non-invasive or invasive ventilation; 105 of them (60.7%) died. Two hundred and fifty-two patients (89%) had severe concomitant diseases. The disease severity was also determined by advanced lung damage (more than 50%) in 143 patients (50.5%). Patients were examined and treated in accordance with temporary guidelines (effective at that time). Results. The most common causes of death among patients treated for COVID-9 in the ICU were pulmonary embolism (n = 50; 42.75%), sepsis (n = 19; 16.2%), and acute respiratory failure (n = 17; 14.5%). Key words: coronavirus infection, SARS-CoV-2, intensive care unit