Risk Factors Associated with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome and Deaths in Patients with Coronavirus Disease Pneumonia in Wuhan China

The authors describe their findings from a retrospective cohort study of 201 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a single Chinese hospital between December 25, 2019 and January 26, 2020 with final follow-up on February 13, 2020. They found that 41.8% of patients developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and 52.4% of those who developed ARDS died. The authors concluded that a less rigorous immune response in older adults was associated with a greater risk of developing and death and that while fever was associated with developing ARDS, those with ARDS and fever had better outcomes. The also cautiously noted that methylprednisolone may be a beneficial treatment for ARDS, but additional research is needed.