4.7 Article

Tocilizumab use in COVID-19-associated pneumonia

Journal

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL VIROLOGY
Volume 93, Issue 2, Pages 1023-1028

Publisher

WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26471

Keywords

coronavirus; disease control; epidemiology; pandemics; virus classification

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Early treatment with TCB in patients admitted for COVID-19 led to an improvement in their oxygen status during hospitalization. However, this improvement did not result in better survival compared to patients who did not receive TCB treatment.
Background We sought to evaluate the effect of tocilizumab (TCB), a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody against soluble interleukin-6 receptors, in patients hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods We included all patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 who had completed hospitalization between March 10, 2020 and April 10, 2020 with follow-up through April 20, 2020. Patients who received TCB in addition to standard of care within 48 h of admission were matched in a 1:2 fashion to a similar cohort who received standard of care alone. Clinical outcomes were compared between matched groups. The primary outcome was de-escalation in oxygen therapy. Secondary outcomes were in-hospital death, septic shock, and acute kidney injury (AKI) requiring hemodialysis. Results Out of 77 patients who received TCB in addition to standard of care, 34% (n = 26) received TCB within 48 h of admission. One-to-two propensity matching identified 20 versus 40 patients in the TCB and no-TCB treatment arms. In the TCB group, an improvement in oxygenation was observed in 80% (n = 16) of the patients by 7 days post TCB administration. After matching, there was no difference in clinical outcomes between TCB and no-TCB patients. In-hospital death: 10% versus 8%;p = .823, septic shock: 10% versus 11%,p = .912, AKI requiring hemodialysis (10% vs. 13%;p = .734). Conclusions Early treatment with TCB in patients admitted for COVID-19 led to an improvement in their oxygen status during hospitalization. This change however did not translate into improved survival when compared to a matched cohort with a similar clinical profile.

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