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Sci Rep
. 2023 Mar 18;13(1):4482.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31544-5.
Remdesivir and corticosteroids in the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients
Luís Coelho 1 2 , Fatima Falcão 3 4 , Pedro Póvoa 5 6 7 , Erica Viegas 3 4 , Antonio Pais Martins 8 , Eduarda Carmo 9 , Candida Fonseca 6 10 , Luis Campos 6 10 , Kamal Mansinho 6 11 , Inês Carmo 3 , Joana Soares 3 , Mariana Solano 3 , Dina Mendes 3 , Ana Cláudia Miranda 11 , Antonio Carvalho 10 12 , Ana Mirco 4 12 , Helena Farinha 4 12 , Isabel Aldir 6 11 12 , José Correia 12
Affiliations
- PMID: 36934143
- DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-31544-5
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic infection caused by the newly discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Remdesivir (RDV) and corticosteroids are used mainly in COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory failure. The main objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of remdesivir with and without corticosteroids in the treatment of COVID-19 patients. We conducted a prospective observational study, including adult patients consecutively hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 and acute respiratory failure. Patients were divided according to treatment strategy: RDV alone versus RDV with corticosteroids. The primary outcome was the time to recovery in both treatment groups. We included 374 COVID-19 adult patients, 184 were treated with RDV, and 190 were treated with RDV and corticosteroid. Patients in the RDV group had a shorter time to recovery in comparison with patients in the RDV plus corticosteroids group at 28 days after admission [11 vs. 16 days (95% confidence Interval 9.7-12.8; 14.9-17.1; p = .016)]. Patients treated with RDV alone had a shorter length of hospital stay. The use of corticosteroids as adjunctive therapy of RDV was not associated with improvement in mortality of COVID-19 patients.