Early Identification of COVID-19 Cytokine Storm and Treatment with Anakinra or Tocilizumab

https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30609-3/fulltext

In a retrospective cohort study, at  tocilizumab initiation (n = 52), 50 (96.2%) were intubated, and only 7 (13.5%) received concomitant corticosteroids. At anakinra initiation (n = 41), 23 (56.1%) were intubated, and all received concomitant corticosteroids. Fewer anakinra-treated patients died (n = 9, 22%) and more were extubated/never intubated (n = 26, 63.4%) compared to tocilizumab-treated patients (n = 24, 46.2% dead, n = 22, 42.3% extubated/never intubated). Patients who died had more severe sepsis and respiratory failure and met COVID-CS laboratory criteria longer (median = 3 days) compared to those extubated/never intubated (median = 1 day). After accounting for differences in disease severity at treatment initiation, this apparent superiority of anakinra over tocilizumab was no longer statistically significant (propensity score-adjusted hazards ratio 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.18-1.20). Prompt identification and treatment of COVID19-CS prior to intubation may be more important than the specific type of anti-inflammatory treatment. Randomized controlled trials of targeted anti-cytokine treatments and corticosteroids should report duration of cytokine storm in addition to clinical severity at randomization.

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