Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33677049›Full record

Trial reportInternational journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics2021

Low-Dose Radiation Therapy for Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia: A Randomized Double-Blind Study.

Alexandros Papachristofilou, Tobias Finazzi, Andrea Blum, Tatjana Zehnder, Núria Zellweger, Jens Lustenberger, Tristan Bauer, Christian Dott, Yasar Avcu, Götz Kohler and 3 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04598581 (Low Dose Radiation Therapy for Severe-Acute-Respiratory-Syndrome-Coronavirus-2), which is not on this map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT04598581 nacompletednot on this map

Low Dose Radiation Therapy for Severe-Acute-Respiratory-Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity Hospital, Basel, SwitzerlandRan2020 to 2021Enrolled22ConditionsSevere-Acute-Respiratory-Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)ArmsLow Dose Radiation Therapy (LD-RT), Sham irradiation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Low-dose Radiation Therapy in the Management of COVID-19 Pneumonia (LOWRAD-Cov19). Final results of a prospective phase I-II trial.Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology · 2022
    Trial
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Radiotherapy for non-cancer diseases: benefits and long-term risks.International journal of radiation biology · 2024
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. In regard to Hess et al.Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology · 2022
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. COVID-19 and low-dose radiation therapy.Radiation medicine and protection · 2021
    Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Alexandros PapachristofilouClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland. Electronic address: alexandros.papachristofilou@usb.ch.
Tobias FinazziClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Andrea BlumClinic of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Tatjana ZehnderClinic of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Núria ZellwegerClinic of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Jens LustenbergerClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Tristan BauerClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Christian DottClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Yasar AvcuClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Götz KohlerClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Frank ZimmermannClinic of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Hans ParggerClinic of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Martin SiegemundClinic of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe morbidity and mortality of patients requiring mechanical ventilation for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia is considerable. We studied the use of whole-lung low-dose radiation therapy (LDRT) in this patient cohort. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit and requiring mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 pneumonia were included in this randomized double-blind study. Patients were randomized to 1 Gy whole-lung LDRT or sham irradiation (sham-RT). Treatment group allocation was concealed from patients and intensive care unit clinicians, who treated patients according to the current standard of care. Patients were followed for the primary endpoint of ventilator-free days at day 15 postintervention. Secondary endpoints included overall survival, as well as changes in oxygenation and inflammatory markers.

resultsTwenty-two patients were randomized to either whole-lung LDRT or sham-RT between November and December 2020. Patients were generally elderly and comorbid, with a median age of 75 years in both arms. No difference in 15-day ventilator-free days was observed between groups (P = 1.00), with a median of 0 days (range, 0-9) in the LDRT arm and 0 days (range, 0-13) in the sham-RT arm. Overall survival at 28 days was identical at 63.6% (95% confidence interval, 40.7%-99.5%) in both arms (P = .69). Apart from a more pronounced reduction in lymphocyte counts after LDRT (P < .01), analyses of secondary endpoints revealed no significant differences between the groups.

conclusionsWhole-lung LDRT failed to improve clinical outcomes in critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation for COVID-19 pneumonia.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overConfidence IntervalsCOVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansIntensive Care UnitsKaplan-Meier EstimateLungLymphocyte CountMaleMiddle AgedOxygen ConsumptionPatient Positioning

Identifiers

PMID33677049
PMCPMC7932873

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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.