Brain Death Diagnosis for Potential Organ Donors During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Formal brainstem reflex testing remains one of the most important procedures in identification and evaluation of patients who meet clinical criteria for brainstem death. Early identification of such patients is critical since willing donors may contribute to the organ donation process. During the first two waves of the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, organ transplantation from brainstem dead donors has declined significantly due to several reasons, including perceived increased risk of virus transmission to both physicians as well as patients as well as lack of awareness regarding donor workup in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial Experience of Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 in Western India: A Case Series.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, was first described in December 2019 as a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. It has since been declared a pandemic, with substantial mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In our case series, we describe the clinical presentation, characteristics, and outcomes of our initial experience of managing 24 critically ill COVID-19 patients at a designated COVID-19 ICU in Western India. RESULTS: Median age of the patients was 54 years, and 58% were males. All patients presented with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); however, only 37.5% failed trials of awake proning and required mechanical ventilation. Patients who received mechanical ventilation typically matched the H-phenotype of COVID-19 pneumonia, and 55.5% of these patients were successfully extubated. CONCLUSION: The most common reason for ICU admission in our series of 24 patients with severe COVID-19 was hypoxemic respiratory failure, which responded well to conservative measures such as awake proning and oxygen supplementation. Mortality in our case series was 16.7%. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Shukla U, Chavali S, Mukta P, Mapari A, Vyas A. Initial Experience of Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19 in Western India: A Case Series. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020;24(7):509-513.