id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentences	flesch	summary	cache	txt
cord-293690-pxiv0m7n	Scala, Raffaele	Italian pulmonologist units and COVID-19 outbreak: “mind the gap”!	2020-06-29		.txt	text/plain	636	48	55	authors: Scala, Raffaele; Renda, Teresa; Corrado, Antonio; Vaghi, Adriano One fourth of > 1500 COVID-19 patients died after the admission in Lombardia ICUs; in only 11% of them, noninvasive ventilation (NIV) and/ or high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) was attempted early to prevent respiratory deterioration and invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). The delayed admission in Lombardia overcrowded ICU of severely hypoxemic COVID-19 patients meeting the criteria for IMV without being offered a HFNC/NIV trial must have played a crucial role. Respiratory high-dependency care units (RHDCUs) are specialised cost-effective environments offering an "intermediate" level of care between ICU and ward, where NIV/HFNC, weaning from IMV and discharge of ventilator-dependent patients are provided [4] . The "gap" between the Italian RHDCU network and pre-COVID-19 respiratory needs might largely explain ICU network failure in Lombardia [4] . The expanded IPU network together with national more restrictive measures against virus dissemination after the Lombardia outbreak has contributed to the mitigation of COVID-19 impact on mortality in other regions.	./cache/cord-293690-pxiv0m7n.txt	./txt/cord-293690-pxiv0m7n.txt