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Efficacy of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID ‐19: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Vegivinti Charan T. R.,
Pederson John M.,
Saravu Kavitha,
Gupta Nitin,
Evanson Kirk W.,
Kamrowski Shelby,
Schmidt Megan,
Barrett Averi,
Trent Hannah,
Dibas Mahmoud,
Reierson Natalie L.,
Mikoff Nick,
Pisipati Sailaja,
Joseph Betsy A.,
Selvan Pragadeesh T.,
Dmytriw Adam A.,
Pulakurthi Yashwitha S.,
Keesari Praneeth R.,
Sriram Varsha,
Chittajallu Spandana,
Brinjikji Waleed,
Katamreddy Rewanth R.,
Chibbar Richa,
Davis Amber R.,
Malpe Manashree,
Mishra Hemant K.,
Kallmes Kevin M.,
Hassan Ameer E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of clinical apheresis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.697
H-Index - 46
eISSN - 1098-1101
pISSN - 0733-2459
DOI - 10.1002/jca.21881
Subject(s) - medicine , convalescent plasma , meta analysis , odds ratio , randomized controlled trial , covid-19 , medline , clinical trial , disease , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
The purpose of this systematic review and meta‐analysis was to examine clinical outcomes associated with convalescent plasma therapy in COVID‐19 patients. We performed a literature search on PubMed, medRxiv, Web of Science, and Scopus to identify studies published up to December 10th, 2020 that examined the efficacy of convalescent plasma treatment for COVID‐19. The primary endpoints were mortality, clinical improvement, and hospital length of stay. We screened 859 studies that met the search criteria, performed full‐text reviews of 56 articles, and identified 15 articles that fulfilled inclusion criteria for meta‐analysis. The odds of mortality were significantly lower in the convalescent plasma group compared to the control group (OR = 0.59 [95% CI = 0.44; 0.78], P < .001), although results from two key randomized controlled trials did not support the mortality benefit. The odds of clinical improvement were significantly higher in the convalescent plasma group compared to the control group (OR = 2.02 [95% CI = 1.54; 2.65], P < .001). There was no difference in hospital length of stay between the convalescent plasma group and the control group (MD = −0.49 days [95% CI = −3.11; 2.12], P = .713). In all, these data indicate that a mortality benefit with convalescent plasma is unclear, although there remain benefits with convalescent plasma therapy for COVID‐19.