BackgroundIn mechanically ventilated Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we frequently recognised the development of pneumomediastinum and/or subcutaneous emphysema despite employing a protective mechanical ventilation strategy. The purpose of this study was to determine if the incidence of pneumomediastinum/subcutaneous emphysema in COVID-19 patients was higher than in ARDS patients without COVID-19 and if this difference could be attributed to barotrauma or to lung frailty.MethodsWe identified the cohort of patients with ARDS and COVID-19 (“CoV-ARDS”), and the cohort of patients with ARDS from other causes (“noCoV-ARDS”).Patients with CoV-ARDS were admitted to ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic and had microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. NoCoV-ARDS was identified by an ARDS diagnosis in the 5 years before the COVID-19 pandemic period.ResultsPneumomediastinum/subcutaneous emphysema occurred in 23 out of 169 (13.6%) patients with CoV-ARDS and in 3 out of 163 (1.9%) patients with noCoV-ARDS (p<0.001). Mortality was 56.5% in CoV-ARDS patients with pneumomediastinum/subcutaneous emphysema and 50% in patients without pneumomediastinum (p=0.46).CoV-ARDS patients had a high incidence of pneumomediastinum/subcutaneous emphysema despite the use of low tidal volume (5.9∓0.8 mL·kg−1 ideal body weight) and low airway pressure (plateau pressure 23∓4 cmH2O).ConclusionsWe observed a seven-fold increase in pneumomediastinum/subcutaneous emphysema in CoV-ARDS. An increased lung frailty in CoV-ARDS could explain this finding more than barotrauma, which, according to its etymology, refers to high transpulmonary pressure.

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Chronic pre-treatment with statins is associated with a reduced prevalence of ruptured plaques in patients presenting with ACS, particularly in those with NSTE-ACS. Statins bear hence the potential to reduce morbidity during the acute phase of ACS.

BACKGROUND:The ratio of dead space to tidal volume (V D /V T ) is associated with mortality in patients with ARDS. Corrected minute ventilation ( _ V E corr ) is a simple surrogate of dead space, but, despite its increasing use, its association with mortality has not been proven. The aim of our study was to assess the association between _ V E corr and hospital mortality. We also compared the strength of this association with that of estimated V D /V T and ventilatory ratio. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study with prospectively collected data. We evaluated 187 consecutive mechanically ventilated subjects with ARDS caused by novel coronavirus disease . The association between _ V E corr and hospital mortality was assessed in multivariable logistic models. The same was done for estimated V D /V T and ventilatory ratio. RESULTS: Mean 6 SD _ V E corr was 11.8 6 3.3 L/min in survivors and 14.5 6 3.9 L/min in nonsurvivors (P < .001) and was independently associated with mortality (adjusted odds ratio 1.15, P 5 .01). The strength of association of _ V E corr with mortality was similar to that of V D /V T and ventilatory ratio. CONCLUSIONS: _ V E corr was independently associated with hospital mortality in subjects with ARDS caused by COVID-19. _V E corr could be used at the patient's bedside for outcome prediction and severity stratification, due to the simplicity of its calculation. These findings need to be confirmed in subjects with ARDS without viral pneumonia and when lung-protective mechanical ventilation is not rigorously applied.