[Intensive care during the 2019-coronavirus epidemic]

Abstract

On 31 December 2019, the Health Commission of Hubei Province of China first unveiled a group of unexplained cases of pneumonia, which WHO subsequently defined as the new coronavirus of 2019 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 has presented rapid person-to-person transmission and is currently a global pandemic. In the largest number of cases described to date of hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 disease (2019-nCoViD), 26% required care in an intensive care unit (ICU). This pandemic is causing an unprecedented mobilization of the scientific community, which has been associated with an exponentially growing number of publications in relation to it. This narrative literature review aims to gather the main contributions in the area of intensive care to date in relation to the epidemiology, clinic, diagnosis and management of 2019-nCoViD.

Keywords: Intensive care; Pandemic; Risk factors; SARS-CoV-2; Triage; coronavirus.

Figura 1

Imagen de la estructura del SARS-CoV-2, donde se aprecia que se trata de un virus RNA monocatenario.

Figura 2

Recreación grafica de 2 posibles escenarios de triaje en una unidad de cuidados intensivos durante un periodo de pandemia.

Figura 3

Imagen radiológica de un enfermo infectado por SARS-CoV-2. A) Infiltrado bilateral neumónico típico en 2019-n-CoViD. B) Evolución del mismo enfermo tras intubación orotraqueal y conexión a ventilación mecánica.