Success rate of Remdesivir, Convalescent Plasma, and Tocilizumab in moderate to severe Covid-19 pneumonia: our experience in a tertiary care center

INTRODUCTION: After the first case of Covid-19 was identified in Wuhan City, China, the numbers increased rapidly all over the world putting a huge burden on the entire healthcare system. Managing these cases posed a great challenge to the treating clinicians in the absence of targeted therapy. At this juncture, few modalities got approved as EUA (Emergency use under authorization) drugs namely Remdesivir, Convalescent Plasma (CP), and Tocilizumab (TCZ) to treat this deadly disease. AIM: To analyze the success rates of EUA therapies for Covid-19 pneumonia in our hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective observational study conducted from April 2020 to October 2020 in the department of Medicine at Tata Main Hospital, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. All adults with moderate to severe Covid-19 as per the WHO criteria were enrolled in the study with their informed consent. Patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 mL/min, deranged liver function tests, electrocardiographic abnormalities, and deranged hematological parameters were excluded from the study. Thorough clinical evaluation was done in all cases. Routine investigations together with CRP, LDH, serum Ferritin, D Dimer and IL6, Chest X-Ray, and HRCT thorax were done in all cases. ECG was done in all cases and 2D-ECHO in selected ones. Depending on their clinical and radiological criteria, patients were treated with various modalities approved under EUA with close monitoring of clinical, biochemical, and radiological parameters. Presenting symptoms, clinical findings, co-morbidities, laboratory parameters, and radiological assessment were analyzed, and statistical analysis was done. The survival rate and in-hospital mortality was analyzed. OBSERVATIONS AND RESULTS: We had a total of 448 patients who were included in our study, out of which 326 were males and 122 were females with a male to female ratio of 2.7:1. Their age varied between 16 and 91 years with an average age of 51.4 years with a standard deviation (SD) of +/- 6.4 years. About 255 patients (57%) received only Remdesivir (176 males, 79 females), 139 (105 males, 35 females) patients (31%) received Remdesivir along with two units of CP, and 38 (32 males, 6 females) patients received a combination of Remdesivir, CP, and TCZ. All patients in our study tolerated the drugs well. About 5% of cases who received CP had minor transfusion reactions. One patient had TRALI and three patients had TACO, which was managed aggressively. Asymptomatic transaminitis was seen in 36% patients. The survival rate in patients treated with Remdesivir was 78%, those with Remdesivir and CP was 44%, and those with all three was 13%. The mean length of stay was 14.23 days with a SD of 9.06 days in patients treated with TCZ in comparison to other two modalities, which was 13.88 days with a standard variation of +/- 8.71 days in Remdesivir and 13.88 days with a SD of 8.73 days in patients treated with CP that was stastically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Though the success rate of various drugs under EUA varies in different studies from all over the world, the data to support their use are encouraging. We also observed satisfying results in our study specially with the use of Remdesivir. Therefore, EUA agents should be used early to fight against COVID-19 along with the other measures as per the protocol laid by ICMR and MoHFW.