Dexamethasone treatment for the acute respiratory distress syndrome: a multicentre, randomised controlled trial

Understanding COVID-19: what does viral RNA load really mean?

“…Nevertheless, this observation suggests that these late, severe manifestations might be immunologically mediated and has obvious implications for the potential to use immune-modulatory therapies for this subset of patients. This finding is consistent with recent reports that corticosteroids were beneficial for acute respiratory distress syndrome, 6 and possibly those with COVID-19. 7 With more detailed data such as those provided by Lescure and colleagues, the use of viral RNA load to suggest potential clinical strategies to treat COVID-19 could be exploited.…”

Efficacy and safety of corticosteroids in COVID-19 based on evidence for COVID-19, other coronavirus infections, influenza, community-acquired pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…29 Our search for primary studies identified 1 new eligible RCT published in 2020. 30 Including 6 RCTs identified from the previous review, we included 7 RCTs 30-36 with 851 patients.…”

“…Very lowquality evidence raised the possibility that corticosteroids may have little or no impact on length of ICU stay [32][33][34] (MD 0.1 days longer, 95% CI 3.0 days shorter to 3.2 days longer) but may reduce length of hospital stay 33,34,36 (MD 3.6 days shorter, 95% CI 0.02 to 7.2 days shorter). Lowquality evidence shows that corticosteroids may reduce the duration of mechanical ventilation (MD -4.8 days, 95% CI -7.0 to -2.6), 30,31,[33][34][35][36] but increase serious hyperglycemia (risk increase 8.1%, 95% CI 0.7% to 16.2%), 30,33,35 with few or no adverse effects on neuromuscular weakness, 33,34 gastrointestinal bleeding 35,36 and superinfection. 30,[33][34][35][36]…”

COVID‐19: A review of therapeutics under investigation

“…Spanish study evaluating dexamethasone use in ARDS, showed a significant benefit in reduction of both mechanical ventilation and mortality. 62 The data specific to COVID-19 are limited. One non-peerreviewed, single-center retrospective review of 46 matched patients with severe COVID-19 disease reported those who received 1-2 mg/kg/day of methylprednisolone had faster improvement in SpO 2 , faster resolution of fever, and improvement in chest CT findings.…”