Methylprednisolone was Associated with Reduced in-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19 Patients with Low Lymphocyte Counts: a Multicenter Retrospective Propensity Analysis (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background: To assess the effect of methylprednisolone on the prognosis of patients with novel coronavirus pneumonia.Methods: Patients with confirmed novel coronavirus pneumonia discharged from Wuhan Third Hospital Guanggu Campus, Shouyi Campus, and Lei Shen Shan Hospital from January 31, 2020, to March 4, 2020, were included. The patients were divided into treatment and control groups according to whether methylprednisolone was used during hospitalization. Propensity score (PS) matching analysis was used to assess in-hospital mortality as the primary outcome and trends in the changes in lymphocytes and the C-reactive protein, creatinine and transaminase levels 7 days after admission (secondary outcomes).Results: A total of 2,062 patients with confirmed novel coronavirus pneumonia were included in this study. Univariate Cox regression analysis suggested that methylprednisolone treatment was associated with increased in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio (HR) 3.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.62-5.23, P<0.01). A total of 624 patients were included after PS matching. The patients were further subdivided into a low lymphocyte count group and a normal lymphocyte count group according to a lymphocyte count cutoff value of 0.9*109/L. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that methylprednisolone treatment reduced the risk of in-hospital death in patients with lymphocyte counts less than 0.9×109/L (P=0.022). In contrast, in the normal lymphocyte group, methylprednisolone treatment was not associated with in-hospital mortality (p=0.88).Conclusion: Treatment with methylprednisolone may be associated with reduced in-hospital mortality in coronavirus disease (COVID) patients with low lymphocyte counts.