Alternating between supine and prone positioning appeared to improve lung recruitability in a small cohort of mechanically ventilated patients with severe COVID-19 infection who developed acute respiratory distress syndrome in Wuhan, China, according to a research letter published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“This study is the first description of the behavior of the lungs in patients with severe COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation and receiving positive pressure,” Haibo Qiu, MD, professor in the department of critical care medicine at Zhangda Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University in Nanjing, China, said in a press release. “It indicates that some patients do not respond well to high positive pressure and respond better to prone positioning in bed (facing downward).”