Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Since December 2019, a number of cases of CoV2/COVID-19 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) pneumonia in Wuhan China have been identified as a cause of acute respiratory failure and have spread around the world at high speed. Due to the large number of cases and the need to better understand this condition, tools are required to grade the intensity and vital prognosis of patients. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between the dead space measured by volumetric capnography or ventilatory ratio and the increase in D-dimer levels in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and who meet the Berlin criteria for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A single-centre observational study of a prospective cohort on the use of D-dimer and the correlation with dead space. Adults older than 18 years with a diagnosis of pneumonia due to COVID-19 and ARDS hospitalized in the intensive care units of Hospital Santa Clara in Bogotá, Colombia, from August 2020 to July 2021 were included. RESULTS: The study included 67 patients, all with a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, no association was found between D-dimer and dead space on day 1 and 3 of hospitalization in the ICU. CONCLUSIONS: D-dimer was not correlated with increased dead space in our study and was not associated with relevant outcomes in patients with ARDS.