Russo Alessandro, Davoli Chiara, Borrazzo Cristian, Olivadese Vincenzo, Ceccarelli Giancarlo, Fusco Paolo, Lazzaro Alessandro, Lionello Rosaria, Ricchio Marco, Serapide Francesca, Tassone Bruno, Gentilini Cacciola Elio, Mastroianni Claudio Maria, Torti Carlo, d'Ettorre Gabriella, Trecarichi Enrico Maria
Infectious and Tropical Disease Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, "Magna Graecia" University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
Infectious and Tropical Disease Unit, Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, "Sapienza" University of Rome, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Biomedicines. 2022 Jun 29;10(7):1548. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10071548.
The hyperinflammatory phase represents the main cause for the clinical worsening of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), leading to the hypothesis that steroid therapy could be a mainstream treatment in COVID-19 patients. This is an observational study including all consecutive patients admitted to two Italian University Hospitals for COVID-19 from March 2020 to December 2021. The aim of this study was to describe clinical characteristics and outcome parameters of hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with dexamethasone 6 mg once daily (standard-dose group) or methylprednisolone 40 mg twice daily (high-dose group). The primary outcome was the impact of these different steroid treatments on 30-day mortality. During the study period, 990 patients were evaluated: 695 (70.2%) receiving standard dosage of dexamethasone and 295 (29.8%) receiving a high dose of methylprednisolone. Cox regression analysis showed that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 1.98, CI95% 1.34−9.81, p = 0.002), chronic kidney disease (HR 5.21, CI95% 1.48−22.23, p = 0.001), oncologic disease (HR 2.81, CI95% 1.45−19.8, p = 0.005) and high-flow nasal cannula, continuous positive airway pressure or non-invasive ventilation oxygen therapy (HR 61.1, CI95% 5.12−511.1, p < 0.001) were independently associated with 30-day mortality; conversely, high-dose steroid therapy was associated with survival (HR 0.42, CI95% 0.38−0.86, p = 0.002) at 30 days. Kaplan−Meier curves for 30-day survival displayed a statistically significant better survival rate in patients treated with high-dose steroid therapy (p = 0.018). The results of this study highlighted that the use of high-dose methylprednisolone, compared to dexamethasone 6 mg once daily, in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 may be associated with a significant reduction in mortality.
炎症风暴期是2019冠状病毒病(COVID-19)中急性呼吸窘迫综合征(ARDS)临床病情恶化的主要原因,由此产生了类固醇疗法可能成为COVID-19患者主流治疗方法的假说。这是一项观察性研究,纳入了2020年3月至2021年12月期间因COVID-19入住两家意大利大学医院的所有连续患者。本研究的目的是描述接受每日一次6毫克地塞米松治疗(标准剂量组)或每日两次40毫克甲泼尼龙治疗(高剂量组)的住院COVID-19患者的临床特征和结局参数。主要结局是这些不同的类固醇治疗对30天死亡率的影响。在研究期间,共评估了990例患者:695例(70.2%)接受地塞米松标准剂量治疗,295例(29.8%)接受高剂量甲泼尼龙治疗。Cox回归分析显示,慢性阻塞性肺疾病(HR 1.98,CI95% 1.34−9.81,p = 0.002)、慢性肾脏病(HR 5.21,CI95% 1.48−22.23,p = 0.001)、肿瘤疾病(HR 2.81,CI95% 1.45−19.8,p = 0.005)以及高流量鼻导管、持续气道正压通气或无创通气氧疗(HR 61.1,CI95% 5.12−511.1,p < 0.001)与30天死亡率独立相关;相反,高剂量类固醇疗法与30天时的生存相关(HR 0.42,CI95% 0.38−0.86,p = 0.002)。30天生存的Kaplan−Meier曲线显示,接受高剂量类固醇疗法的患者生存率在统计学上显著更高(p = 0.018)。本研究结果强调,在住院的COVID-19患者中,与每日一次6毫克地塞米松相比,使用高剂量甲泼尼龙可能与死亡率显著降低相关。