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. 2020 Oct 14;9(10):e1192.
doi: 10.1002/cti2.1192. eCollection 2020.

Clinical efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in critical ill patients with COVID-19: a multicenter retrospective cohort study

Ziyun Shao  1 , Yongwen Feng  2   3 , Li Zhong  4 , Qifeng Xie  5 , Ming Lei  6 , Zheying Liu  5 , Conglin Wang  5 , Jingjing Ji  5 , Huiheng Liu  7 , Zhengtao Gu  8 , Zhongwei Hu  6 , Lei Su  5 , Ming Wu  2   5 , Zhifeng Liu  5   9
Affiliations

Clinical efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin therapy in critical ill patients with COVID-19: a multicenter retrospective cohort study

Ziyun Shao et al. Clin Transl Immunology. .

Abstract

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is a major challenge all over the world, without acknowledged treatment. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) has been recommended to treat critical coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in a few reviews, but the clinical study evidence on its efficacy in COVID-19 patients was lacking.

Methods: 325 patients with laboratory-confirmed critical COVID-19 were enrolled from 4 government-designated COVID-19 treatment centres in southern China from December 2019 to March 2020. The primary outcomes were 28- and 60-day mortality, and the secondary outcomes were the total length of in-hospital and the total duration of the disease. Subgroup analysis was carried out according to clinical classification of COVID-19, IVIG dosage and timing.

Results: In the enrolled 325 patients, 174 cases used IVIG and 151 cases did not. The 28-day mortality was improved with IVIG after adjusting confounding in overall cohort (P = 0.0014), and the in-hospital and the total duration of disease were longer in the IVIG group (P < 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed that only in patients with critical type, IVIG could significantly reduce the 28-day mortality, decrease the inflammatory response and improve some organ functions (all P < 0.05); the application of IVIG in the early stage (admission ≤ 7 days) with a high dose (> 15 g per day) exhibited significant reduction in 60-day mortality in the critical-type patients.

Conclusion: Early administration of IVIG with high dose improves the prognosis of critical-type patients with COVID-19. This study provides important information on clinical application of IVIG in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including patient selection and administration dosage and timing.

Keywords: COVID‐19; IVIG; SARS‐CoV‐2; clinical efficacy; mortality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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