Dexamethasone in Hospitalized Patients with Covid-19 — Preliminary Report
Open-label RECOVERY trial (n=6425) reported lower 28-day mortality with dexamethasone in mechanical ventilation (29.3 vs. 41.4%; rate ratio 0.64) or oxygen pts (23.3 vs. 26.2%; 0.82;) but not in no respiratory support pts (17.8 vs. 14.0%; 1.19) vs usual care.
Source:
New England Journal of Medicine
SPS commentary:
A related editorial commends these findings, which provide clarity in the use of dexamethasone and could lead to the reduction of mortality in patients with advanced COVID-19 disease.
Of note, the author adds that the ability to rapidly enrol thousands of patients into the trial was facilitated by the NHS and that the entire UK patient population was eligible for study entry.
He adds further context in conducting rigorous clinical research in the setting of a pandemic.