Abstract: Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal 29 (2021) 1096–1101 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com Original article Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of severe (ICU) COVID-19 patients in Saudi Arabia: A single centre study Saleh Alghamdi Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Clinical Pharmacy, Albaha University, Albaha, Saudi Arabia a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 26 February 2021 Accepted 1 August 2021 Available online 4 August 2021 Keywords: Coronavirus COVID-19 Antibiotics Hydroxychloroquine Intensive care unit Saudi Arabia a b s t r a c t Background: There is limited information describing the presenting features and treatment outcomes of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Saudi Arabia. Objective: To investigates the clinical, epidemiological, laboratory, radiological, vital signs and treatment characteristics/outcomes of severe (ICU) COVID-19 patients in Albaha region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted from 01 April 2020 to 31 August 2020 involving files review of 171 patients admitted to the ICU of a COVID-19 treatment centre as a result of severe symptoms. Results: Around a third of the ICU patients admitted were over 66 years of age, 59.6% males, 45% diabetics, 39% hypertensive, 25.7% smokers. Patients had symptoms such as 79% fever, 78% cough, 75% headache, 59% sore throat, 57% runny nose, and 75% cough. More than half of the patients had <90% oxygen saturation. Bilateral infiltration was present in about 43% of patients. 85.4% lymphopenia, and 70.8% D-dimer (>0.5 u/ml) were the most significant laboratory results. The median stay in the hospital ranged from 4 to 15.6 days, and the ICU time ranged from 4 to 12.7 days. Approximately 29% of patients received antiviral, antimalarial, and antibiotic treatment, while 27.5% of patients received antibiotics and antimalarial therapy alone. Incorporating hydroxychloroquine in treatment protocols did not improve patients’ outcomes. Conclusions: Older age and cardio-metabolic comorbidities increase the risks of sever COVID-19. Different treatment protocols fail to improve mortality rates and urgent efforts are required to prevent the disease and reduce its severity. Ó 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).