Tocilizumab for severe COVID-19 pneumonia: Case series of 5 Australian patients.

ABSTRACT:

Aim

To describe the first Australian cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) disease (COVID-19) pneumonia treated with the interleukin-6 receptor antagonist tocilizumab.

Methods

Retrospective, open-label, real-world, uncontrolled, single-arm case series conducted in 2 tertiary hospitals in NSW, Australia and 1 tertiary hospital in Victoria, Australia. Five adult male patients aged between 46 and 74 years with type 1 respiratory failure due to COVID-19 pneumonia requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission and biochemical evidence of systemic hyperinflammation (C-reactive protein greater than 100 mg/L; ferritin greater than 700 μg/L) were administered variable-dose tocilizumab.

Results

At between 13 and 26 days follow-up, all patients are

SUBMITTER: West TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7436606 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature