T. Klopfenstein, S. Zayet, A. Lohse, J. Balblanc, J. Badie, P. Royer, L. Toko, C. Mezher, N. J. Kadiane-Oussou, M. Bossert, Ana-Maria Bozgan, A. Charpentier, M. Roux, R. Contreras, I. Mazurier, P. Dussert, V. Gendrin, T. Conrozier
Médecine et Maladies Infectieuses, 2020
Abstract Introduction. No therapy has yet proven effective in COVID-19. Tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with severe COVID-19 could be an effective treatment. Method. We conducted a retrospective case-control study in the Nord Franche-Comté Hospital, France. We compared the outcome of patients treated with TCZ and patients without TCZ considering a combined primary endpoint: death and/or ICU admissions. Results. Patients with TCZ (n=20) had a higher Charlson comorbidity index (5.3 [±2.4] vs 3.4 [±2.6], p=0.014), presented with more severe forms (higher level of oxygen therapy at 13 L/min vs 6 L/min, p<0.001), and had poorer biological findings (severe lymphopenia: 676/mm3 vs 914/mm3, p=0.037 and higher CRP level: 158 mg/l vs 105 mg/l, p=0.017) than patients without TCZ (n=25). However, death and/or ICU admissions were higher in patients without TCZ than in the TCZ group (72% vs 25%, p=0.002). Conclusion. Despite the small sample size and retrospective nature of the work, this result strongly suggests that TCZ may reduce the number of ICU admissions and/or mortality in patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia.
Cited by 110 publications.
Field of study: Medicine