Source: SciTechDaily
Hydroxychloroquine Reduces In-Hospital COVID-19 Mortality
An observational multi-center study, coordinated by the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed, with the participation of 33 Italian hospitals, shows that the risk of death is 30% lower for coronavirus patients treated with hydroxychloroquine.
An Italian observational study contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the use of hydroxychloroquine in the current pandemic. The research, conducted on 3,451 patients treated in 33 hospitals throughout the Italian territory (list of participating centers attached), shows that the use of this drug reduces by 30% the risk of death in hospitalized patients affected by Covid-19.
Published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine, the study was coordinated by the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed, Pozzilli, in collaboration with Mediterranea Cardiocentro, Naples, and the University of Pisa, with the participation of 33 hospitals forming the CORIST collaboration (COvid-19 RISk and Treatments). Researchers analyzed data regarding current and previous diseases, therapies followed before the infection and drugs administered in the hospital specifically for the treatment of COVID-19. All this information was compared with the evolution and the final in-hospital outcome of the infection.
“We observed — explains Augusto Di Castelnuovo, epidemiologist at the Neuromed Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, currently at Mediterranea Cardiocentro in Naples — that patients treated with hydroxychloroquine had a 30% lower in-hospital mortality rate compared to those not receiving this treatment. Our data were subjected to extremely rigorous statistical analysis, taking into account all the variables and possible confounding factors that could come into play. The drug efficacy was evaluated in various subgroups of patients. The positive results of hydroxychloroquine treatment remained unchanged, especially in those patients showing a more evident inflammatory state at the moment of admission to hospital.”
“While waiting for a vaccine — says Licia Iacoviello, Director of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at Neuromed and professor of Public Health at the University of Insubria at Varese — identifying effective therapies against COVID-19 is an absolute priority. We hope that our research will make an important contribution to the international debate on the role of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of hospitalized patients for coronavirus. Further observational studies and ongoing clinical tials will of course be needed to better assess the role of this drug and the most appropriate administration methods. However, data from the CORIST collaboration support the use of hydroxychloroquine. At variance with some studies carried out in other Countries, where efficacy of the drug was not observed, it is interesting to note that the doses of hydroxychloroquine adopted in Italy (200 mg, twice a day) are lower than the ones used in those researches.”
“In past months — comments Giovanni de Gaetano, President of Neuromed — the World Health Organization recommended a stop to the use of hydroxychloroquine on the basis of an international observational study, subsequently retracted. Now the new data from the CORIST study, resulting from a ‘real life’ national collaboration, might help Health Authorities better clarify the role of this drug in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.”
Reference:
“Use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalised COVID-19 patients is associated with reduced mortality: Findings from the observational multicentre Italian CORIST study” by Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Simona Costanzo, Andrea Antinori, Nausicaa Berselli, Lorenzo Blandi, Raffaele Bruno, Roberto Cauda, Giovanni Guaraldi, Lorenzo Menicanti, Ilaria My, Giustino Parruti, Giuseppe Patti, Stefano Perlini, Francesca Santilli, Carlo Signorelli, Enrico Spinoni, Giulio G. Stefanini, Alessandra Vergori, Walter Ageno, Antonella Agodi, Luca Aiello, Piergiuseppe Agostoni, Samir Al Moghazi, Marinella Astuto, Filippo Aucella, Greta Barbieri, Alessandro Bartoloni, Marialaura Bonaccio, Paolo Bonfanti, Francesco Cacciatore, Lucia Caiano, Francesco Cannata, Laura Carrozzi, Antonio Cascio, Arturo Ciccullo, Antonella Cingolani, Francesco Cipollone Claudia Colomba, Francesca Crosta, Chiara Dal Pra, Gian Battista Danzi, Damiano D’Ardes, Katleen de Gaetano Donati, Paola Del Giacomo, Francesco Di Gennaro, Giuseppe Di Tano, Giampiero D’Offizi, Tommaso Filippini, Francesco Maria Fusco Ivan Gentile, Alessandro Gialluisi, Giancarlo Gini, Elvira Grandone, Leonardo Grisafi, Gabriella Guarnieri, Silvia Lamonica, Francesco Landi, Armando Leone, Gloria Maccagni, Sandro Maccarella, Andrea Madaro, Massimo Mapelli, Riccardo Maragna, Lorenzo Marra, Giulio Maresca Claudia Marotta,, Franco Mastroianni, Maria Mazzitelli Alessandro Mengozzi, Francesco Menichetti, Marianna Meschiari, Filippo Minutolo, Arturo Montineri, Roberta Mussinelli, Cristina Mussini, Maria Musso, Anna Odone, Marco Olivieri, Emanuela Pasi Francesco Petri, Biagio Pinchera, Carlo A. Pivato, Venerino Poletti, Claudia Ravaglia, Massimo Rinaldi, Andrea Rognoni, Marco Rossato, Ilaria Rossi, Marianna Rossi Anna Sabena, Francesco Salinaro, Vincenzo Sangiovanni, Carlo Sanrocco, Laura Scorzolini, Raffaella Sgariglia, Paola Giustina Simeone, Michele Spinicci, Enrico Maria Trecarichi, Amedeo Venezia, Giovanni Veronesi, Roberto Vettor, Andrea Vianello, Marco Vinceti Laura Vocciante, Raffaele De Caterina, Licia Iacoviello and The COVID-19 RISK and Treatments (CORIST) Collaboration, 25 August 2020, European Journal of Internal Medicine.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejim.2020.08.019
The CORIST Collaboration
CORIST (COvid-19 RISk and Treatments) is a collaboration between 33 Italian clinical centers devoted to collection and study of data relating to COVID-19 patients. It is a study carried out in the “real life” of Italian National Health System, bringing together the different experiences of large and small clinical centers, from Lombardy to Sicily.
The I.R.C.C.S. Neuromed
The Institute for Research, Hospitalization and Health Care (I.R.C.C.S.) Neuromed in Pozzilli (Italy) is a landmark, at Italian and international level, for research and therapy in the field of neurological and cardiovascular diseases. A centre in which doctors, researchers, staff and the patients themselves form an alliance aimed at ensuring the best level of service and cutting-edge treatments, guided by the most advanced scientific developments.
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