TY - JOUR T1 - High-flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy to treat patients with hypoxemic acute respiratory failure consequent to SARS-CoV-2 infection JF - Thorax JO - Thorax SP - 998 LP - 1000 DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-214993 VL - 75 IS - 11 AU - Andrea Vianello AU - Giovanna Arcaro AU - Beatrice Molena AU - Cristian Turato AU - Andi Sukthi AU - Gabriella Guarnieri AU - Francesca Lugato AU - Gianenrico Senna AU - Paolo Navalesi Y1 - 2020/11/01 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/75/11/998.abstract N2 - This observational study aims to assess the outcome and safety of O2-therapy by high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in 28 consecutive patients with severe hypoxemic acute respiratory failure (hARF) consequent to SARS-CoV-2 infection, unresponsive to conventional O2-therapy. Nineteen patients had a positive response. Nine patients required escalation of treatment to non-invasive ventilation (five subsequently intubated). None of the staff had a positive swab testing during the study period and the following 14 days. Severity of hypoxemia and C reactive protein level were correlated with HFNC failure. These data suggest HFNC to be a safe treatment for less severe patients with SARS-CoV-2 hARF and efficacy will need to be assessed as part of a clinical trial. ER -