(16 May 2020) Anakinra- beneficial for treating severe COVID-19 patients with sHLH

FAVORABLE ANAKINRA RESPONSES IN SEVERE COVID-19 PATIENTS WITH SECONDARY HEMOPHAGOCYTIC LYMPHOHISTIOCYTOSIS

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2020.05.007

This  report comprises of data from  the treatment of eight severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients– seven hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs) in Greece and one non-ICU patient in the Netherlands– with the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist Anakinra. All patients scored positive for the hemophagocytosis score (HScore) and were diagnosed with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistocytosis (sHLH) characterized by pancytopenia, hyper-coagulation, acute kidney injury and hepatobiliary dysfunction. At the end-of-treatment, ICU patients had less need for vasopressors, significantly improved respiratory function and lower HScore.  These data suggest that administration of Anakinra may be beneficial for treating severe COVID-19 patients with sHLH as determined by the HScore and support the need for larger clinical studies to validate this concept.