Clinical characteristics of 113 deceased patients with coronavirus disease 2019: retrospective study
This case series found SARS-Cov-2 infection can cause pulmonary and systemic inflammation, leading to multi-organ dysfunction in high risk populations. In addition to respiratory distress/failure, acute cardiac injury and heart failure may also contribute to critical illness.
Source:
British Medical Journal
SPS commentary:
The authors compared the characteristics of the 113 patients who died with 161 who recovered, finding those who died were older (by an average of 17 years), more likely to be male, and more likely to have a comorbidity such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or chronic lung disease. An accompanying editorial notes that the relative importance of underlying health conditions is however currently unclear due to inadequate adjustment for important confounders, insufficient follow-up and likely under-reporting of pre-existing conditions.