Tocilizumab Use May Be Associated with a Short-term Mortality Benefit
link.springer.comFor hospitalized COVID-19 patients, there is some evidence that tocilizumab use may be associated with a short-term mortality benefit, but further high-quality data are required. Its benefits may also lie in reducing the need for mechanical ventilation.
We identified 10 RCTs using tocilizumab, 9 of which reported primary outcome data (mortality), recruiting 6,493 patients with 3,358 (52.2%) allocated to tocilizumab. Tocilizumab may be associated with an improvement in mortality.
Meta-regression suggested a relationship between treatment effect and mortality risk, with benefit at higher levels of risk.
We included randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) allocating patients with COVID-19 to tocilizumab. Our control group included standard care or placebo.