Pulmonary radiological change of COVID-19 patients with ^99mTc-MDP treatment

Abstract Background As increasing cases of COVID-19 around world, urgent need for effective COVID-19-specific therapeutic drugs is necessary; therefore, we conducted a pilot randomized-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of 99m Tc-MDP for COVID-19 therapeutic treatment. Methods A total of 21 mild patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in this pilot RCT from February 2020 through March 2020, and then were assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, into control (11 patients) and 99m Tc-MDP group (10 patients). Patients in the control group received routine treatment and patients assigned to the 99m Tc-MDP group received a combination of routine treatment and an administration of 99m Tc-MDP injection of 5ml/day. Both of the patients in the control and 99m Tc-MDP groups were treated for 7 days with the primary end point of CT-based radiological pulmonary changes during 7-day follow-up. Findings From baseline to the day 7, 8 (80%) of 10 mild patients in the 99m Tc-MDP group had a significant radiological improvement in lung and a decline in inflammatory infiltration, whereas only 1 (9.1%) of 11 patients in the control group had a radiological improvement in lung. None of the patients in the 99m Tc-MDP group had disease progression from mild to severe, as well as an inflammatory cytokine storm, and 2 mild patients (18.2%) in the control group developed severe. During days 7 through 14, the number of patients with radiological improvement in the 99m Tc-MDP group remained consistent, and only 1 additional case (22%) in the control group were reported. Conclusion In this randomized pilot study, 99m Tc-MDP had an effective inhibitory effect on the inflammatory disease progression for the therapy of COVID-19, and it can accelerate the absorption of pulmonary inflammation in a short period of time during the process of treatment.