Hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin in patients hospitalized for mild and moderate COVID-19
Lamback et al.,
Hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin in patients hospitalized for mild and moderate COVID-19,
The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1016/j.bjid.2021.101549
Retrospective 193 hospitalized patients in Brazil not finding a significant difference with HCQ.
The control group was composed of patients refusing HCQ or with contraindications. Time based confounding is very likely because HCQ became more controversial in Brazil over the time covered (Mar - Jun 2020), while overall treatment protocols during this period improved dramatically, i.e., more control patients (those refusing HCQ) likely come later in the period when treatment protocols were greatly improved.
The paper does not mention the word "confounding" or make any adjustments.
This study is excluded in the after exclusion results of meta
analysis:
substantial
confounding by time likely due to declining usage over the early stages of the pandemic when overall treatment protocols improved dramatically.
risk of death, 8.9% lower, RR 0.91, p = 0.83, treatment 11 of 101 (10.9%), control 11 of 92 (12.0%), NNT 94.
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risk of ICU admission, 19.9% higher, RR 1.20, p = 0.61, treatment 25 of 101 (24.8%), control 19 of 92 (20.7%).
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hospitalization time, 12.5% lower, relative time 0.88, treatment 101, control 92.
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Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious outcomes. Submit updates
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Lamback et al., 19 Feb 2021, retrospective, Brazil, peer-reviewed, 10 authors.
Abstract: braz j infect dis ( 2 0 2 1 );2 5(2):101549
The Brazilian Journal of
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
www.elsevier.com/locate/bjid
Original article
Hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin in patients
hospitalized for mild and moderate COVID-19
Elisa Baranski Lamback a,b,∗ , Monica Amorim de Oliveira a,c ,
Andrea Ferreira Haddad a , André Filipe Marcondes Vieira a,c,d ,
Armando Leão Ferreira Neto a,e , Taciana da Silva Maia e , Juliana de Rezende Chrisman f ,
Pedro Pimenta de Mello Spineti a,e , Marco Antonio de Mattos a , Eduardo Costa e,f
a
Hospital Unimed Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
c Universidade Estácio de Sá, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
d Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, RJ, Brazil
e Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
f Instituto Unimed-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
b
a r t i c l e
i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Objectives: To assess the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin
Received 6 November 2020
in terms of clinical and biochemical outcomes in adult patients with COVID-19 hospitalized
Accepted 4 February 2021
for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and to describe the occurrence of adverse
Available online 19 February 2021
events.
Keywords:
Janeiro, Brazil, involving 193 adult patients hospitalized for mild and moderate COVID-19
Method: Retrospective comparative study, based in a quaternary private hospital in Rio de
COVID-19
related ARSD, analyzing treatment efficacy based on clinical and biochemical outcomes.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome
Results: The active group comprised 101 (52.3%) patients using hydroxychloroquine associ-
coronavirus 2
ated with azithromycin and the control group 92 (47.7%) patients who did not take these
Hydroxychloroquine
medications. Median age was 59 (47–70) in the active group and 65 (47−77) in the control
Azithromycin
group (p < 0.05). Patients in the control group had greater extent of pulmonary involvement
on baseline chest CT scans (p < 0.05). All other baseline variables (BMI, comorbidities, previous use of medications and biochemical assessments) were similar between groups. In the
medication group, 25% (25 out of 101) were admitted to the ICU, compared to 21% (19 out of
92) in the control group (p > 0.05). No difference in mortality, duration of non-invasive oxygen use or duration of hospitalization was seen between groups. The therapeutic regimen
was well tolerated, with only eight (7.9%) patients presenting gastrointestinal symptoms
and eight (7.9%) patients withdrawn treatment due to QTc prolongation.
Conclusions: Patients treated with hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin and
the control group had similar clinical outcomes. This therapeutic regimen was considered
∗
Corresponding author at: Hospital Unimed Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
E-mail address: elisalamback@gmail.com (E.B. Lamback).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjid.2021.101549
1413-8670/© 2021 Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC
BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
2
b r a z j i n f e c t d i s . ( 2 0 2 1 );2 5(2):101549
ineffective in hospitalized patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 related ARDS and was
associated with few non-severe adverse events.
© 2021 Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia. Published by Elsevier..
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