Effectiveness of remdesivir with corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit: A hospital-based observational study.

ABSTRACT

The effectiveness of remdesivir on survival in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially in cases treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), is controversial. We investigated the effectiveness of remdesivir with corticosteroids on the survival of COVID-19 patients in a real ICU clinical practice. For laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU of a tertiary hospital in Tokyo (April 2020-November 2021) and who received corticosteroids, the effectiveness of remdesivir for survival, stratified by interval length (within 9 or 10+ days), was retrospectively analyzed using Cox regression model. A total of 168 patients were included 35 with no remdesivir use (control), 96 with remdesivir use within 9 days, and 37 with remdesivir use with an interval of 10+ days. In-hospital mortality was 45.7%, 10.4%, and 16.2%, respectively. After adjusting for possible covariates including comorbidities, laboratory data, oxygen demand, or level of pneumonia, remdesivir use within 9 days from symptom onset reduced mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR] 0.10; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.025-0.428) compared to the control group. However, remdesivir use with an interval of 10+ days showed no significant association with mortality (HR 0.42; 95% CI 0.117-1.524). Among COVID-19 patients who received corticosteroids in ICU, remdesivir use within 9 days from symptom onset was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality risk.