Background: Novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection is associated with hypoxemic respiratory failure. Mechanical ventilation (MV) is reported to have high mortality in SARS-CoV-2 acute respiratory distress syndrome. We aimed to investigate whether awake prone positioning (PP) can improve oxygenation and prevent intubation when employed early. Methods: This prospective interventional study included proven coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with room air saturation 93% or less. The primary outcome was the rate of intubation between the two groups. The secondary outcomes included ROX index (SpO 2 /FiO 2 %/respiratory rate, breaths/min) at 30 min following the intervention, ROX index at 12 h, time to recovery of hypoxemia, and mortality. Results: A total of 45 subjects were included (30 cases and 15 controls) with a mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of 53.1 (11.0) years. The age, comorbidities, and baseline ROX index were similar between the two groups. The median duration of PP achieved was 7.5 h on the 1 st day. The need for MV was higher in the control group (5/15; 33.3%) versus prone group (2/30; 6.7%). At 30 min, there was a statistically significant improvement in the mean (SD) ROX index of cases compared with that of the controls (10.7 [3.8] vs. 6.7 [2.6], P < 0.001). No significant adverse effects related to intervention were noted. Conclusion: Awake PP is associated with significant improvement in oxygenation and may reduce the need for MV in subjects with COVID-19.

A bstract Background and objective A large number of studies describing the clinicoepidemiological features of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients are available but very few studies have documented similar features of the deceased. This study was aimed to describe the clinicoepidemiological features and the causes of mortality of COVID-19 deceased patients admitted in a dedicated COVID center in India. Methodology This was a retrospective study done in adult deceased patients admitted in COVID ICU from April 4 to July 24, 2020. The clinical features, comorbidities, complications, and causes of mortality in these patients were analyzed. Pediatric deceased were analyzed separately. Results A total of 654 adult patients were admitted in the ICU during the study period and ICU mortality was 37.7% (247/654). Among the adult deceased, 65.9% were males with a median age of 56 years [interquartile range (IQR), 41.5–65] and 94.74% had one or more comorbidities, most common being hypertension (43.3%), diabetes mellitus (34.8%), and chronic kidney disease (20.6%). The most common presenting features in these deceased were fever (75.7%), cough (68.8%), and shortness of breath (67.6%). The mean initial sequential organ failure assessment score was 9.3 ± 4.7 and 24.2% were already intubated at the time of admission. The median duration of hospital stay was 6 days (IQR, 3–11). The most common cause of death was sepsis with multi-organ failure (55.1%) followed by severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (25.5%). All pediatric deceased had comorbid conditions and the most common cause of death in this group was severe ARDS. Conclusion In this cohort of adult deceased, most were young males with age less than 65 years with one or more comorbidities, hypertension being the most common. Only 5% of the deceased had no comorbidities. Sepsis with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome was the most common cause of death. How to cite this article Aggarwal R, Bhatia R, Kulshrestha K, Soni KD, Viswanath R, Singh AK, et al. Clinicoepidemiological Features and Mortality Analysis of Deceased Patients with COVID-19 in a Tertiary Care Center. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021; 25(6):622–628.

Vital capacity rapid inhalation induction (VCRII) results in faster achievement of desired minimum alveolar concentration while reducing the incidence of excitatory phenomenon compared to conventional incremental technique. This study aimed to determine whether the VCRII can achieve faster induction of anesthesia in adults compared to the traditional tidal ventilation (TV) technique. Following the approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Amala Institute of Medical Sciences, with an approval No. AIMSIEC/07/2017, on July 1, 2017, 51 adults belonging to American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I–II, undergoing elective surgery at a tertiary care teaching hospital were prospectively assigned to two groups: 25 in VCRII (38.3 ± 13.3 years old, 20 (80%) females) and 26 in TV inhalation induction (35.2 ± 11.9 years old, 17 (65%) females) using 8% sevoflurane in 66% nitrous oxide. The induction time, such as time (in seconds) to the cessation of voluntary finger tapping, time to loss of eyelash reflex, time to return of regular breathing, the return of conjugate gaze, was measured. The primary outcome was time to induction as defined by time to loss of eyelash reflex. Hemodynamic effects of both methods were compared at baseline and 1, 3, 5, 10, 15-minute intervals from induction. Induction was significantly faster in the VCRII group compared with the TV group in all the measured parameters. Hemodynamic parameters were comparable in both the groups. VCRII resulted in a faster induction time compared to the TV technique in adults.