Clinical outcomes for COVID‐19 patients with diabetes mellitus treated with convalescent plasma transfusion in Wuhan, China
Wei Dai, Jian Wu, Tianfu Li, Jiawei Shen, Rongrong Pang, Tao Luo, Yanju Guo, Yang Yang, Jun Zhao, Mingchao Zhang, Na Li, Ying Han, Qiuyue Wu, Weiwei Li, Xinyi Xia
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is wreaking havoc on public health systems worldwide. The diagnosis of COVID-19 is well defined, but efficacious treatment is lacking. There is a big gap in knowledge regarding COVID-19 patients receiving convalescent plasma transfusion (CPT), especially those also suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, among 3059 COVID-19 patients admitted to Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital of China, we documented the characteristics of 39 COVID-19 patients with DM receiving CPT and compared their baseline information and clinical outcomes to COVID-19 patients with DM receiving conventional treatment. We also performed the propensity-matched comparison of COVID-19 patients with DM between conventional treatment and CPT. The CPT was efficacious and beneficial for COVID-19 patients with DM, including severe or critically ill patients, without obvious adverse effects. Our data demonstrated that CPT significantly improved the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients with DM, especially the cure rate and duration of hospitalization compared with that in COVID-19 patients with DM receiving conventional treatment. This study not only provided a deeper understanding of characteristics in COVID-19 patients with DM receiving CPT but also highlighted the efficaciousness of CPT for COVID-19 patients with DM.