A single-center experience in use of tocilizumab in COVID-19 pneumonia in India

IL-6 receptor antagonist tocilizumab (TCZ) has been used in several reported studies in the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia and pieces of evidence are still emerging.

All patients with COVID-19 pneumonia showing features of hyperinflammatory syndrome receiving TCZ at a tertiary care center in India were included in the study and a retrospective descriptive analysis was done.

Between May 2020 to August 2020, 21 patients received TCZ out of which 13 survived and 8 died. All non-survivors had longer duration (median 12 days, minimum 9, maximum 15 days compared to median 6 days, minimum 3 and maximum 14 days in survivors) of symptoms and severe disease requiring mechanical ventilation at the time of TCZ administration. Among survivors, 8 patients had severe disease, 3 had moderate disease, and 2 patients had mild disease. Six out of 8 (75%) among non-survivors and 8 out of 13 (62%) among survivors had preexisting medical comorbidities. The non-survivors had higher baseline neutrophil-to-leukocyte ratio (10.5 vs 8.8), serum ferritin (960 ng/ml vs 611 ng/ml), lactate dehydrogenase (795 IU/L vs 954 IU/L), and D-dimer (5900 μg/ml vs 1485 mg/ml) levels. No drug-related serious adverse effect was noted among the patients.

In a scenario of emerging evidence for the role of TCZ in the management of severe COVID-19, our study provides useful data on its use in the Indian scenario. Deliberate patient selection and timing initiation of TCZ at a crucial stage of the disease may be beneficial in COVID-19 pneumonia with good safety returns.