Ethical approval
This was a multicenter, observational study performed in twenty-five hospitals of Veneto Region, Northern Italy, listed on the Acknowledgements. All the participating centers obtained Ethics Committee approval for the present research project, initially approved by the Institutional Ethical Committee of Padova University hospital on the 21st April, 2020 (Ref: 4853AO20). Local investigators were responsible for ensuring data integrity and validity. The study was conducted in accordance to Helsinki declaration and national regulation on study involving humans. Informed consent was obtained for each patient in compliance to national regulation and the recommendations of the Institutional Ethical Committee of Padova University Hospital.
Consent for publication
Informed consent was obtained for each patient in compliance to national regulation and the recommendations of the Institutional Ethical Committee of Padova University Hospital.
Availability of data and materials
The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding
This study was funded by a grant provided by the Regional Government, Veneto, Italy. The regional database was commissioned to the Contract Research Organization Aleph srl (Milan, Italy).
Authors’ contributions
AB, LP, NS designed and conceived the study, performed statistical analysis, drafted the manuscript; PR, EP, KD, LG, PN conceived the study and participated in its design and coordination; CP, MT, ET acquired data, coordinated data collection, and helped to draft the manuscript; AV, GL participated to design the study and substantially revised the draft; the COVID-19 VENETO ICU Network contributed to collect and interpret and data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Authors are grateful to all ICU doctors, residents, and nurses whose efforts, devotion to patients and passion made this timely report.
Members of COVID-19 VENETO ICU Network, that we would like to be searchable through their individual PubMed records, are listed below:
i) O.C. Istituto di Anestesia e Rianimazione, Padova (Ilaria Valeri, MD; Giulio Andreatta, MD; Leonardo Gandolfi, MD; Alessandra Gadaldi, MD; Nicolò Brumana, MD; Edoardo Forin, MD; Christelle Correale, MD; Davide Fregolent, MD; Pier Francesco Pirelli, MD; Davide Marchesin, MD; Matteo Perona, MD; Nicola Franchetti, MD; Michele Della Paolera, MD; Caterina Simoni, MD; Tatiana Falcioni, MD; Alessandra Tresin, MD; Chiara Schiavolin, MD; Aldo Schiavi, MD; Sonila Vathi, MD; Daria Sartori, MD; Alice Sorgato, MD; Elisa Pistollato, MD; Federico Linassi, MD; Gian Lorenzo Golino, MD; Laura Frigo, MD); ii) Azienda Ospedaliera-Università di Padova, Padova (PD) (Eugenio Serra, MD; Demetrio Pittarello, MD; Ivo Tiberio, MD; Ottavia Bond, MD; Elisa Michieletto, MD; Luisa Muraro, MD; Arianna Peralta, MD; Paolo Persona, MD; Enrico Petranzan, MD; Francesco Zarantonello, MD; Tommaso Pettenuzzo, MD; Alessandro Graziano, MD; Alessandro De Cassai, MD); iii) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Presidio Ospedaliero “San Martino”, Belluno (BL), AULSS 1 Dolomiti (Lorenzo Bernardi, MD; Roberto Pianon, MD); iv) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale di Vittorio Veneto, Vittorio Veneto (TV), AULSS 2 Marca Trevigiana (Flavio Badii, MD); iv) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale di Conegliano, Conegliano (TV), AULSS 2 Marca Trevigiana (Enrico Bosco, MD); v) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale di Montebelluna, Montebelluna (TV), AULSS 2 Marca Trevigiana (Moreno Agostini, MD); vi) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale di Oderzo, Oderzo (TV), AULSS 2 Marca Trevigiana (Paride Trevisiol, MD); vii) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale Ca’ Foncello, Treviso, AULSS 2 Marca Trevigiana (Antonio Farnia, MD; Mario Peta, MD); viii) U.O.C. Anestesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Antalgica, Presidio Ospedaliero di Dolo, Dolo (VE), AULSS 3 Serenissima (Lorella Altafini, MD); ix) U.O.C. Anestesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Antalgica, Presidio Ospedaliero di Mirano, Mirano (VE) AULSS 3 Serenissima (Mauro Antonio Calò, MD); x) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale SS. Giovanni e Paolo, Venezia, AULSS 3 Serenissima (Marco Meggiolaro, MD); xi) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale dell'Angelo, Mestre (VE), AULSS 3 Serenissima (Francesco Lazzari, MD; Ivan Martinello, MD; Giorgio Fullin, MD; Francesco Papaccio, MD); xii) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedali di San Donà di Piave e Jesolo, San Donà di Piave (VE), AULSS 4 Veneto Orientale (Fabio Toffoletto, MD); xiii) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale di Cittadella, Cittadella (PD), AULSS 6 Euganea (Alfeo Bonato, MD; Camilla Sgarabotto, MD); xiv) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedali Riuniti Padova Sud, Monselice (PD), AULSS 6 Euganea (Fabio Baratto, MD; Francesco Montacciani, MD; Alessandra Parnigotto, MD); xv) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedali di Rovigo e Trecenta, Rovigo, AULSS 5 Polesana (Giuseppe Gagliardi, MD; Ferraro Gioconda, MD); xvi) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale Alto Vicentino, Santorso (VI), AULSS 7 Pedemontana (Luigi Ongaro, MD); xvii) U.O.C. Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale San Bassiano, Bassano del Grappa (VI), AULSS 7 Pedemontana (Marco Baiocchi, MD); xviii) U.O.C Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale di Vicenza, Vicenza (VI), AULSS 8 Berica (Vinicio Danzi, MD; Silvia De Rosa, MD); xix) U.O. Anestesia e Rianimazione B, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata Verona, Verona (VR); xx) U.O. Anestesia e Rianimazione A, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Integrata Verona, Verona (VR) (Paolo Zanatta, MD); xxi) U.O.C Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale Mater Salutis di Legnago, Legnago (VR), AULSS 9 Scaligera (Ezio Sinigaglia, MD; Alessandra da Ros, MD); xxii) U.O.C Anestesia e Rianimazione, Ospedale Magalini di Villafranca, Legnago (VR), AULSS 9 Scaligera (Simonetta Marchiotto, MD; Silvia Bassanini, MD); xxiii) Dipartimento di Anestesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Antalgica, IRCCS Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria, Negrar (VR) (Massimo Zamperini, MD); xxiv) U.O.S. Terapia Intensiva, Dipartimento di Anestesia, Rianimazione e Terapia Antalgica, IRCCS Sacro Cuore-Don Calabria, Negrar (VR) (Ivan Daroui, MD); xxv) U.O. Terapia Intensiva, Ospedale P. Pederzoli – Casa di Cura Privata SpA, Peschiera sul Garda (VR) (Walter Mosaner, MD); xxv) IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (MI) (Rosalba Lembo, MSc).