2.1. Population of Patients
Forty-five intubated and mechanically ventilated patients hospitalized in a “COVID-19 ICU” of Rennes teaching hospital were screened for this study and benefited from a systematic monitoring to detect Aspergillus.
The hospital’s ethics committee (N 20-56 obtained the 30 April 2020) approved the study. The presence of SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory specimens (nasal and pharyngeal swabs or sputum) was detected by real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methods.
The following data were recorded: age, patient’s preexisting condition (current smoking, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and kidney disease), body mass index, ICU length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, ventilator-free days at day 28, need for prone position ventilation, and death in the ICU. Initial clinical laboratory workup included a complete blood count and serum biochemical tests. Chest CT scans were performed during the ICU hospitalization. The Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) and the Sepsis-Related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at admission in ICU, at day 7 and 14 days after admission were used to assess severity [7,8].