COVID-19 Does Not Lead to a “Typical” Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

ARDS with COVID-19.An intermediate VT (7-8 ml/kg PBW) ventilation strategy was applied to the first four patients to increase pulmonary efficiency to eliminate CO 2 , and this was used in the next four patients.Gas exchange consists of oxygenation and ventilation.Oxygenation is quantified by the Pa O 2 /FI O 2 ratio, and this method has gained wide acceptance, particularly since publication of the Berlin definition of ARDS (7).However, the Berlin definition does not include additional pathophysiological information about ARDS, such as alveolar ventilation, as measured by pulmonary dead space, which is an important predictor of outcome (8).Increased pulmonary dead space reflects the inefficiency of the lungs to…