Prevalence of suspected obesity hypoventilation syndrome in Hungarian Intensive Care Units during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The symptoms of obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) may be present for years with concomitant progressive comorbidities, and the condition is frequently diagnosed late as a result of acute-on-chronic hypercapnic respiratory failure. Although some data exist on intensive care unit (ICU) prevalence, mortality and morbidity of OHS, little is known about the ICU mortality of these chronic respiratory failure patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional observational study in five Hungarian Intensive Care Units for 4 months during the COVID-19 pandemic.