Chronic critical illness in critically ill COVID-19 patients

Objectives To evaluate the presence of chronic critical illness (CCI) in COVID-19 patients and compare clinical characteristics and prognosis of patients with and without CCI admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). Methods It was a retrospective, observational study at a university hospital ICU. Patients were accepted as CCI if they had prolonged ICU stay (≥14 days) and got ≥1 score for cardiovascular sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score and ≥2 score in other parameters on day 14 of ICU admission which was described as persistent organ dysfunction. Results 131 of 397 (33%) patients met CCI criteria. CCI patients were older (p = 0.003) and frailer (p