Open AccessUse of Tocilizumab in hospitalized patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s) -
Laura Alvarez-Arroyo,
Francisco Javier Carrera-Hueso,
Montse Robustillo-Villarino,
Óscar Pérez-Olaso,
David El-Qutob,
Fernando Martínez-Martínez
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
ars pharmaceutica/ars pharmaceutica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2340-9894
pISSN - 0004-2927
DOI - 10.30827/ars.v63i2.22348
Subject(s) - tocilizumab , medicine , retrospective cohort study , covid-19 , pandemic , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Introduction: The aim of this study was to characterize the use of tocilizumab in a hospital.
Method: Retrospective cohort study including adult SARS-CoV-2 infected inpatients with moderately severe infection (PaO2/FiO2 < 300). ORs for mortality and treatment success were calculated.
Results: The tocilizumab group (n=18), presented 5 days of symptoms vs 7 days in the untreated group (n=71). Minimum PaO2/FiO2 was 147.5 (95%CI: 116.7 to 194.0) vs 255.6 (95%CI: 320.7 to 452.4) (p=0.01).
No significant differences were found between the two groups concerning survival (OR=1.22; 95%CI: 0.38 to 3.92), nor treatment success (OR=0.46; 95%CI: 0.16 to 1.33). After adjusting for age, sex and total corticosteroid dose, OR for success was 0.18 (95%CI: 0.03 to 0.96), while mortality was not significant.
Conclusions: The use of tocilizumab in moderately severe hospitalized patients could decrease the hyperinflammatory state preventing disease progression.