COVID-19-related echocardiographic patterns of cardiovascular dysfunction in critically ill patients: A systematic review of the current literature.

PURPOSE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection may trigger a multi-systemic disease involving different organs. There has been growing interest regarding the harmful effects of COVID-19 on the cardiovascular system. This systematic review aims to systematically analyze papers reporting echocardiographic findings in hospitalized COVID-19 subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We included prospective and retrospective studies reporting echocardiography data in >10 hospitalized adult subjects with COVID-19; from 1st February 2020 to 15th January 2021. RESULTS: The primary electronic search identified 1120 articles. Twenty-nine studies were finally included, enrolling 3944 subjects. Overall the studies included a median of 68.0% (45.5-100.0) of patients admitted to ICU. Ten studies (34.4%) were retrospective, and 20 (68.9%) single-centred. Overall enrolling 1367 subjects, three studies reported normal echocardiographic findings in 49 ± 18% of cases. Seven studies (24.1%) analyzed the association between echocardiographic findings and mortality, mostly related to right ventricular (RV) dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS: Data regarding the use of echocardiography on hospitalized, predominantly ICU, COVID-19 patients were retrieved from studies with heterogeneous designs, variable sample sizes, and severity scores. Normal echocardiographic findings were reported in about 50% of subjects, with LVEF usually not affected. Overall, RV dysfunction seems more likely associated with increased mortality. TRIAL REGISTRATION: CRD42020218439.

Critical Care Outreach Team During COVID-19: Ventilatory Support in the Ward and Outcomes.

BACKGROUND: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, a critical care outreach team was implemented in our hospital to guarantee multidisciplinary patient assessment at admission and prompt ICU support in medical wards. In this paper, we report the activity plan results and describe the baseline characteristics of the referred subjects. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated data from 125 subjects referred to the critical care outreach team from March 22 to April 22, 2020. We considered subjects with a ceiling of care decision, with those deemed eligible assigned to level 3 care (ward subgroup), and those deemed ineligible admitted to the ICU (ICU subgroup). Quality indicators of the outreach team plan delivery included number of cardiac arrest calls, number of intubations in level 2 areas, and ineffective palliative support. RESULTS: We enrolled 125 consecutive adult subjects with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. We did not report any emergency endotracheal intubations in the clinical ward. In the care ceiling subgroup, we had 2 (3.3%) emergency calls for cardiac arrest, whereas signs of ineffective palliative support were reported in 5 subjects (12.5%). Noninvasive forms of respiratory assistance were delivered to 40.0% of subjects in the ward subgroup (median 3 d [interquartile range (IQR) 2-5]), to 45.9% of subjects in the care ceiling subgroup (median 5 d [IQR 3-7]), and to 64.7% of subjects in the ICU subgroup (median 2.5 d [IQR 1-3]). Thirty of the 31 ward subjects (96.7%), 26 of the 34 ICU subjects, (76.4%), and 19 of the 61 ceiling of care subjects (31.1%) were discharged. CONCLUSIONS: In the context of a hospital and ICU surge, a multidisciplinary daily plan supported by a dedicated critical care outreach team was associated with a low rate of cardiac arrest calls, no emergency intubations in the ward, and appropriate palliative care support for subjects with a ceiling of care decision.