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Outcomes of tocilizumab therapy in severe or critical COVID-19 patients: A retrospective cohort, single-centre study

Abdelnaby H 1 , Aboelhassan W 2 , Al-Jarallah M 3 , Rajan R 3 , Dashti R 3 , Zhanna KD 4 Show all authors , Alsaber AR 5 , Abd El-Aleem A 6 , Ashry I 6 , Abdullah M 7 , Mahmoud Fouad A 8

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Endemic & Infectious diseases, Faculty of medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
  • 2 Gastroenterology & Hepatology Unit, Ministry of Health, Jaber Al Ahmad Hospital, Kuwait
  • 3 Department of Cardiology, Sabah Al Ahmed Cardiac Centre, Al Amiri Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait
  • 4 Cardiology and Functional Diagnostics Named after V.S. Moiseev, Institute of Medicine, Peoples' Friendship, University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, Russian Federation
  • 5 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
  • 6 Gastroenterology & Hepatology Unit, Ministry of Health, Al Sabah Hospital, Kuwait
  • 7 Department of Infectious diseases, Ministry of Health, Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kuwait
  • 8 Department of Public, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
Trop Med Int Health, 2021 Dec;26(12):1689-1699.
PMID: 34601803 DOI: 10.1111/tmi.13685

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To assess the effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab, a humanised anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibody, in the treatment of critical or severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.

METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of severe or critical COVID-19 patients (≥18 years) admitted to one hospital in Kuwait. Fifty-one patients received intravenous tocilizumab, while 78 patients received the standard of care at the same hospital. Both groups were compared for clinical improvement and in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS: The tocilizumab (TCZ) group had a significantly lower 28-day in-hospital mortality rate than the standard-of care-group (21.6% vs. 42.3% respectively; p = 0.015). Fifty-five per cent of patients in the TCZ group clinically improved vs. 11.5% in the standard-of-care group (p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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