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
Clinical Trial
. 2020 Oct;59(5):102867.
doi: 10.1016/j.transci.2020.102867. Epub 2020 Jun 27.

Life-saving effect of convalescent plasma treatment in covid-19 disease: Clinical trial from eastern Anatolia

Mehmet Ali Erkurt  1 , Ahmet Sarici  2 , İlhami Berber  3 , İrfan Kuku  4 , Emin Kaya  5 , Mustafa Özgül  6
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Life-saving effect of convalescent plasma treatment in covid-19 disease: Clinical trial from eastern Anatolia

Mehmet Ali Erkurt et al. Transfus Apher Sci. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Aim: Convalescent Plasma (CP) therapy is of interest as no vaccine or specific treatment is available for emerging viruses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 causing Covid-19. It was aimed to report the results of our patients who underwent CP in the treatment of Covid-19.

Methods: CP treatment was applied to 26 Covid-19 patients in intensive care unit who had quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction positive Sars-Cov-2 infection. Plasma was collected at least 14 days after complete recovery from patients who had mild or moderate infection with Sars-Cov-2 infection. The collected CP (200cc) were applied to severe Covid-19 patients. Laboratory values of patients just before CP and after 7 days were compared.

Results: There were no statistically significant differences in leukocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, platelet, CRP, ferritin, LDH, ALT, AST, sO2 and total bilirubin values just before and after 1 week of CP. A statistically significant difference was found between age and lymphocyte values of living and dying patients. The patients who died were determined to have older age (74,6 vs 61,85, p = 0,018) and more severe lymphopenia (0,47 vs 1,18, p = 0,001).

Conclusion: CP therapy has the potential to provide immediate and promising treatment options before specific vaccines and treatments are developed. In early stage Covid-19 patients who do not need mechanical ventilation, CP treatment may be a curative treatment option.

Keywords: Convalescent plasma; Coronavirus; Covid-19; Immun plasma; Sars-Cov-2 infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare with regard to the submitted manuscript.

References

    1. Chen N. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):507–513. - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO . 2020. WHO coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dashboard.https://covid19.who.int/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz83VtZyC6gIVQuztCh0PrQ3WEAAYA... 12 June 2020; Available from:
    1. Hung I.F. 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
    1. Chen L. Convalescent plasma as a potential therapy for COVID-19. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20(4):398–400. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Van Griensven J. Evaluation of convalescent plasma for Ebola virus disease in Guinea. N Engl J Med. 2016;374(1):33–42. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types