Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33154452›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2020

Impact of tocilizumab administration on mortality in severe COVID-19.

Andrew Tsai, Oumou Diawara, Ronald G Nahass, Luigi Brunetti

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
38citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

38 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  7. Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab in COVID-19 patients: a living systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases · 2021
    Pooled it
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  18. Splenic T lymphocytes induce the formation of immunosuppressive neutrophils through IFN-γ in sepsis.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Andrew TsaiRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, 110 Rehill Avenue, Somerville, NJ, 08876, USA.
Oumou DiawaraRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, 110 Rehill Avenue, Somerville, NJ, 08876, USA.
Ronald G NahassRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, 110 Rehill Avenue, Somerville, NJ, 08876, USA.
Luigi BrunettiRobert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, 110 Rehill Avenue, Somerville, NJ, 08876, USA. brunetti@pharmacy.rutgers.edu.
Somerset Medical Center · USRutgers, The State University of New Jersey · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic has placed a significant burden on hospitals and healthcare providers. The immune response to this disease is thought to lead to an aberrant inflammatory response or cytokine storm, which contributes to the severity of illness. There is an urgent need to confirm whether the use of tocilizumab provides a benefit in individuals with COVID-19. A single-center propensity-score matched cohort study, including all consecutive COVID-19 patients, admitted to the medical center who were either discharged from the medical center or expired between March 1, 2020, and May 5, 2020, was performed. Patients were stratified according to the receipt of tocilizumab for cytokine storm and matched to controls using propensity scores. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. A total of 274 patients meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified and 132 patients were included in the matched dataset (tocilizumab = 66; no tocilizumab = 66). Approximately 73% of the patients were male. Hypertension (55%), diabetes mellitus (31%), and chronic pulmonary disease (15%) were the most common comorbidities present. There were 18 deaths (27.3%) in the tocilizumab group and 18 deaths (27.3%) in the no tocilizumab group (odds ratio, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.465 - 2.151; p = 1.00). Advanced age, history of myocardial infarction, dementia, chronic pulmonary disease, heart failure, and malignancy were significantly more common in patients who died. The current analysis does not support the use of tocilizumab for the management of cytokine storm in patients with COVID-19. Use of this therapeutic agent should be limited to the context of a clinical trial until more evidence is available.

Indexed as

Hospital MortalityAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19FemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsPneumonia, ViralAntibodies, Monoclonal, Humanizedtocilizumab

Identifiers

PMID33154452
PMCPMC7645706
OpenAlexW3096479939

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.