Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2020 Apr 13;35(14):e149.
doi: 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e149.

Use of Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Two COVID-19 Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Korea

Jin Young Ahn #  1 , Yujin Sohn #  1 , Su Hwan Lee  1 , Yunsuk Cho  1 , Jong Hoon Hyun  1 , Yae Jee Baek  1 , Su Jin Jeong  1 , Jung Ho Kim  1 , Nam Su Ku  1 , Joon Sup Yeom  1 , Juhye Roh  2 , Mi Young Ahn  3 , Bum Sik Chin  4 , Young Sam Kim  1 , Hyukmin Lee  2 , Dongeun Yong  2 , Hyun Ok Kim  2 , Sinyoung Kim  5 , Jun Yong Choi  6
Affiliations
Case Reports

Use of Convalescent Plasma Therapy in Two COVID-19 Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Korea

Jin Young Ahn et al. J Korean Med Sci. .

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 not yet has established its treatment, but convalescent plasma has been expected to increase survival rates as in the case with other emerging viral infections. We describe two cases of COVID-19 treated with convalescent plasma infusion. Both patients presented severe pneumonia with acute respiratory distress syndrome and showed a favorable outcome after the use of convalescent plasma in addition to systemic corticosteroid. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the use of convalescent plasma therapy for COVID-19 in Korea.

Keywords: COVID-19; Convalescent Plasma; Coronavirus; SARS-CoV-2; Treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Case 1, responses to treatment. (A) Timelines of changes in PaO2/FiO2 and CRP during hospitalization. (B) Timelines of detection of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase region of the ORF1b gene of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in sputum by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; cycle threshold is shown.
CRP = C-reactive protein.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Chest X-rays of Case 1 taken before and after convalescent plasma infusion. Taken on day 7, just before the convalescent plasma infusion (left). Taken on day 13 shows marked improvement of bilateral infiltrations (right). The images are published under agreement of the patient.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Case 2, responses to treatment. (A) Timelines of changes in PaO2/FiO2 and CRP during hospitalization. (B) Timelines of detection of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase region of the ORF1b gene of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 in sputum by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; cycle threshold is shown.
CRP = C-reactive protein.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Chest X-rays of Case 2 taken before and after convalescent plasma infusion. Taken on day 2, before the convalescent plasma infusion (left). Taken on day 6 shows marked improvement of bilateral infiltrations (right). The images are published under agreement of the patient.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mair-Jenkins J, Saavedra-Campos M, Baillie JK, Cleary P, Khaw FM, Lim WS, et al. The effectiveness of convalescent plasma and hyperimmune immunoglobulin for the treatment of severe acute respiratory infections of viral etiology: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis. J Infect Dis. 2015;211(1):80–90. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Marano G, Vaglio S, Pupella S, Facco G, Catalano L, Liumbruno GM, et al. Convalescent plasma: new evidence for an old therapeutic tool? Blood Transfus. 2016;14(2):152–157. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burnouf T, Seghatchian J. Ebola virus convalescent blood products: where we are now and where we may need to go. Transfus Apheresis Sci. 2014;51(2):120–125. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Public Health England I. Treatment of MERS-CoV: information for clinicians. [Updated 2017]. [Accessed February 2, 2020]. http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317139281416.
    1. Hung IF, To KK, Lee CK, Lee KL, Chan K, Yan WW, et al. Convalescent plasma treatment reduced mortality in patients with severe pandemic influenza A (H1N1) 2009 virus infection. Clin Infect Dis. 2011;52(4):447–456. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types