Efficacy of tocilizumab in severe COVID-19: a retrospective study

Aim: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic with potential life-threatening outcomes. The current study aims to demonstrate the effect of tocilizumab in COVID-19 related cytokine storm. Material and Method: This retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated the patients who received tocilizumab for COVID-19 related cytokine storm between March and August 2020. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings were recorded. Computerized tomography (CT) scans, which were performed before tocilizumab infusion were scored. The characteristics of the patients who survived versus those who did not survive were assessed. Results: There was a total of 137 patients, 99 (72.3%) male and 38 (27.7%) female, with a median age of 62 years. Eighty-six (62.7%) patients had severe; 51 (37.2%) patients had critical disease course. The mortality rate was 24.1%. Higher mortality rates were present among patients older than 65 years, females, and with comorbid diseases (p=0.02, p=0.031, and p=0.01, respectively). The non-survived group had higher rates of mechanical ventilation (MV) support (85.2%) and admission to the intensive care unit (58.8%) (p