Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 26, 2025
Lung CT Segmentation to Identify Consolidations and Ground Glass Areas for Quantitative Assesment of SARS-CoV Pneumonia
Published on: December 19, 2020
Clinicoepidemiological Features and Mortality Analysis of Deceased Patients with COVID-19 in a Tertiary Care Center
Richa Aggarwal1, Ridhima Bhatia2, Kshitija Kulshrestha1
1Critical and Intensive Care, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi, India.
Insights
Most COVID-19 deceased were young males with comorbidities like hypertension. Sepsis with multi-organ failure was the leading cause of death in this critical illness study.
Area of Science:
- Critical Care Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Limited data exists on clinicoepidemiological features of deceased coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients.
- This study addresses this gap by analyzing deceased COVID-19 patients in an Indian tertiary care center.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the clinicoepidemiological characteristics of deceased COVID-19 patients.
- To identify the primary causes of mortality in this patient cohort.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of adult deceased patients admitted to a COVID ICU between April 4 and July 24, 2020.
- Evaluation of clinical features, comorbidities, complications, and causes of death.
- Separate analysis of pediatric deceased patients.
Main Results:
- ICU mortality rate was 37.7% (247/654) among adult patients.
- The majority of deceased were males (65.9%) with a median age of 56 years.
- Nearly all deceased (94.74%) had comorbidities, primarily hypertension (43.3%), diabetes (34.8%), and chronic kidney disease (20.6%).
- Common symptoms included fever (75.7%), cough (68.8%), and shortness of breath (67.6%).
- Sepsis with multi-organ failure (55.1%) and severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (25.5%) were the leading causes of death.
- All pediatric deceased had comorbidities, with severe ARDS being the most common cause of death.
Conclusions:
- Deceased COVID-19 patients were often young males (<65 years) with multiple comorbidities, predominantly hypertension.
- Comorbidities were present in over 95% of deceased adults.
- Sepsis with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome was the primary cause of mortality.
Background And Objective:
A large number of studies describing the clinicoepidemiological features of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) patients are available but very few studies have documented similar features of the deceased. This study was aimed to describe the clinicoepidemiological features and the causes of mortality of COVID-19 deceased patients admitted in a dedicated COVID center in India.
Methodology:
This was a retrospective study done in adult deceased patients admitted in COVID ICU from April 4 to July 24, 2020. The clinical features, comorbidities, complications, and causes of mortality in these patients were analyzed. Pediatric deceased were analyzed separately.
Results:
A total of 654 adult patients were admitted in the ICU during the study period and ICU mortality was 37.7% (247/654). Among the adult deceased, 65.9% were males with a median age of 56 years [interquartile range (IQR), 41.5-65] and 94.74% had one or more comorbidities, most common being hypertension (43.3%), diabetes mellitus (34.8%), and chronic kidney disease (20.6%). The most common presenting features in these deceased were fever (75.7%), cough (68.8%), and shortness of breath (67.6%). The mean initial sequential organ failure assessment score was 9.3 ± 4.7 and 24.2% were already intubated at the time of admission. The median duration of hospital stay was 6 days (IQR, 3-11). The most common cause of death was sepsis with multi-organ failure (55.1%) followed by severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (25.5%). All pediatric deceased had comorbid conditions and the most common cause of death in this group was severe ARDS.
Conclusion:
In this cohort of adult deceased, most were young males with age less than 65 years with one or more comorbidities, hypertension being the most common. Only 5% of the deceased had no comorbidities. Sepsis with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome was the most common cause of death.
How To Cite This Article:
Aggarwal R, Bhatia R, Kulshrestha K, Soni KD, Viswanath R, Singh AK, et al. Clinicoepidemiological Features and Mortality Analysis of Deceased Patients with COVID-19 in a Tertiary Care Center. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021; 25(6):622-628.
Related Concept Videos
01:20COPD: Pathogenesis and Clinical Features
The primary cause for the onset of COPD is cigarette smoking and exposure to air pollution. These hazardous factors initiate a chain reaction within the lungs, resulting in chronic inflammation, damage to the airways, and a...
01:30Pneumonia III: Complications and Assessment
01:29Pulmonary Embolism II: Diagnostic Studies and Interprofessional Care
01:30Coronary Artery Disease III: Clinical Manifestations
01:25Endocarditis II: Clinical Features of Infective Endocarditis
01:25Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data