Intrapulmonary bronchopulmonary anastomoses in COVID-19 respiratory failure.

The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a devastating and world-wide pandemic disease known as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). COVID-19 causes acute hypoxic respiratory failure (COVID-ARF), a major cause of mortality and morbidity, with an incompletely understood pathophysiologic mechanism. Gattinoni and colleagues noted that patients with COVID-ARF patients have lung disease that is often characterised by a remarkable dissociation between relatively well-preserved lung mechanics, including lung compliance, and severe hypoxemia [1]. The authors would like to acknowledge support from Fumiko Dekio, MD, and Rachel Brody, MD, PhD, from the Department of Pathology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.