Early Transfusion of Convalescent Plasma Improves the Clinical Outcome in Severe SARS-CoV2 Infection
Eszter Fodor, Veronika Müller, Zsolt Iványi, Tímea Berki, Olga Kuten Pella, István Hornyák, Míra Ambrus, Ágnes Sárkány, Árpád Skázel, Ágnes Madár, Dorottya Kardos, Gábor Kemenesi, Fanni Földes, Sándor Nagy, Andrea Matusovits, Nacsa János, Attila Tordai, Ferenc Jakab, Zsombor Lacza
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Plasma harvested from convalescent COVID-19 patients (CCP) has been applied as first-line therapy in the early phase of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic through clinical studies using various protocols. METHODS: We present data from a cohort of 267 hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients who received CCP. No transfusion-related complications were reported, indicating the overall safety of CCP therapy. RESULTS: Patients who eventually died from COVID-19 received CCP significantly later (3.95 versus 5.22 days after hospital admission) and had higher interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels (28.9 pg/ml versus 102.5 pg/ml) than those who survived. In addition, CCP transfusion caused a significant reduction in the overall inflammatory status of the patients regardless of the severity of disease or outcome, as evidenced by decreasing C-reactive protein, IL6 and ferritin levels. CONCLUSION: We conclude that CCP transfusion is a safe and effective supplementary treatment modality for hospitalized COVID-19 patients characterized by better expected outcome if applied as early as possible. We also observed that IL-6 may be a suitable laboratory parameter for patient selection and monitoring of CCP therapy effectiveness.