Successful treatment with methyl-prednisolone pulses for the late phase of COVID-19 with respiratory failure: A single-center case series

• Main Authors: Kentaro Tamura, Saiko Nishioka, Nobumasa Tamura, Zenya Saito, Kazuyoshi Kuwano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-01-01
• Series: Respiratory Medicine Case Reports
• Subjects: COVID-19; Late phase; Steroid; Steroid pulse therapy
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213007120305323
• ISSN: 2213-0071

Although some prospective studies provided the evidence of corticosteroids for critically ill patients with COVID-19, the optimal dosage or timing of corticosteroids is still unknown. This is a case series of four patients on methyl-prednisolone pulses for the late phase of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with respiratory failure in our hospital. All patients needed invasive mechanical ventilation and had bimodal worseness of their respiratory status with consolidation and volume loss after intubation. All cases could successfully discontinue oxygen therapy without any severe adverse events after this pulse therapy in the late phase of COVID-19. This therapy is believed to be effective on some optimal patients. Hence, further studies to explore this efficacy and safety were needed.