Tocilizumab for Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia: Experience from 5 Geriatric Chinese Patients with 6 Months Follow-up

Objective: To enable physicians to understand the efficacy and safety of Tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: We respectively reviewed the clinical records, laboratory results, and chest computed tomography (CT) scans of 5 geriatric patients with severe COVID-19 treated with TCZ during their inpatient hospitalization period in Wuhan from February 08, 2020 to April 04, 2020. The survival status of the patients in the third and the sixth month after being discharged was followed up and recorded.

Results: On the fourteenth day after TCZ administration, periphery oxygen saturation rate (SpO) returned to normal in 4 patients. The serum Interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels altered in five patients after TCZ infusion. One patient rapidly progressed to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and died of multiple organ failures eventually. The other 4 patients were cured and discharged from the hospital. During the inpatient hospitalization period, two patients suffered from virus shedding periods (VSPs) delay, and one patient had mild upper respiratory tract infection. One patient died of esophageal carcinoma one month after being discharged. The other 3 patients survived despite mild cough and insomnia. Serum-specific IgG type antibody titer was decreased in one patient. Six months after being discharged, the other three patients were in good condition.

Conclusion: TCZ may be an efficient therapeutic option for patients with COVID-19. However, the possibility of VSPs delay, secondary infection, serum protective antibody tilter attenuation, and long-term survival status should be addressed before TCZ therapy initiation.