A retrospective analysis of 200 patients infected with Covid-19 at a Kheda hospital in Gujarat has found cardiac arrest to be the leading cause of death in 34 cases.
Yet another study has reconfirmed the link between Covid-19 and cardiac arrest among patients with co-morbidities.
A retrospective analysis of 200 patients infected with Covid-19 at a Kheda hospital in Gujarat has found cardiac arrest to be the leading cause of death in 34 cases. The study, published in the Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research in April, analysed the records of 200 randomly selected and confirmed Covid-19 indoor patients admitted between April 7, 2021 and July 3, 2021 at ND Desai Hospital in Kheda.
What were the clinical characteristics of the cohort?
A majority of Covid-19 patients at the hospital were male (129) while 71 were female. Sixty per cent of the cohort was aged below 60 years old and 43 per cent (86) of the cohort had an underlying co-morbid condition, with hypertension being the dominant co-morbid condition (in 61 of the 200) followed by diabetes mellitus (40 of the 200). Twenty-three of the 86 high-risk patients had more than one co-morbidity. Only 35 patients of the 200 did not require any oxygen support.
What are the death-related characteristics observed?
Altogether 27 deceased patients complained of shortness of breath, comprising nearly 80 per cent of case fatalities. A total of 93 patients complained of shortness of breath among the 166 who survived, which is around 56 per cent of the survivor cohort. ICU admission, too, was seen to be higher — 17 among the 34 who died compared to seven among the 166 who lived. Clinical markers such as median C-reactive protein, D-Dimer and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio were significantly higher among the deceased patients compared to the survivors.
Among the 34 Covid-19 patients who died, cardiac arrest was the leading cause of death in 24 (70.58 per cent), followed by severe ADRS (35 per cent), sepsis with multi-organ dysfunction and pulmonary embolism.
What have previous studies established with respect to second wave patient characteristics?
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The Kheda hospital study is more or less in line with a largescale pan-India study conducted by ICMR last year, comparing first and second wave patient profiles based on data collected under the National Clinical Registry for Covid-19 (NCRC). The mortality is slightly higher in the Kheda hospital compared to the ICMR study for the second wave (17 per cent in the Gujarat hospital in the cohort, compared to 13 per cent in the ICMR study).
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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