Case Report: Successful Treatment of Five Critically Ill Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients Using Combination Therapy With Etoposide and Corticosteroids.

ABSTRACT: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the leading cause of mortality in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of limited effective therapies. During infection, the accumulation and activation of macrophages and monocytes in the lungs induce inflammatory mediators and contribute to tissue injury, leading to ARDS. However, therapeutic strategies that directly target activated macrophage and monocytes have not been reported. Combination treatment with etoposide (a cytotoxic agent) and a corticosteroid has been widely used for treating hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis characterized by the systemic activation of macrophages with overwhelming inflammation. Herein, we present five cases of COVID-19-associated ARDS treated with etoposide and corticosteroi

SUBMITTER: Aoyagi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8496678 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature