TY - JOUR T1 - Continuous positive airway pressure for moderate to severe COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome in a resource-limited setting JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00536-2021 VL - 8 IS - 1 SP - 00536-2021 AU - Anbesan Hoole AU - Sahar Qamar AU - Ayesha Khan AU - Mariam Ejaz Y1 - 2022/01/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/8/1/00536-2021.abstract N2 - Management of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ARDS or CARDS) has challenged the health systems of developed countries, and even more so the health systems of resource-poor settings [1]. Within this context, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has been trialled as an alternative, less resource-intensive respiratory support to early invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) [2] with promising results, and now features in some major guidelines [3]. However, there are limited studies from resource-poor settings that have been impacted massively by COVID-19. We retrospectively analysed the completed survival outcomes and characteristics for the exclusive use of CPAP for moderate-to-severe CARDS as defined by the Kigali criteria [4] in a cohort of patients admitted to Bach Christian Hospital (BCH; Abbottabad, Pakistan) between April and August 2021.Continuous positive airway pressure is an efficacious and cost-effective modality of treatment for #COVID19 ARDS, particularly in resource-poor settings with late referrals to overwhelmed intensive care units https://bit.ly/3dKwXwPMany thanks to our dedicated nursing staff (Bach Christian Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan) for their work with COVID-19 patients and help with data collection, particularly Rizwan Hameed and Shahzad Gill. We are thankful to Luke Cutherell, Musheer Shaukat, Zubaid Inayat and Nabila Michael for their support and encouragement with the work of our COVID-19 unit. ER -