Title
Methylprednisolone pulse therapy: An alternative management of severe COVID-19
Date Issued
01 January 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Sauñe P.M.
Bryce-Alberti M.
Portmann-Baracco A.S.
Publisher(s)
W.B. Saunders Ltd
Abstract
We present two cases of severe COVID-19 that were rejected by medical institutions. The management of the disease was done at home with methylprednisolone (MP) pulse therapy for three days. This resulted in a favorable evolution and resolution of most symptoms. COVID-19 infection presents as asymptomatic disease, non-severe symptomatic disease, and severe respiratory inflammatory disease. The first two forms are dependent on viral response and a “cytokine storm” is responsible for the progression into severe disease. Glucocorticoids (GC) reduce inflammation by different mechanism depending of their concentration. Pulses lead to overall apoptosis of immune cells. Studies using pulse MP as treatment for SARS-CoV-1 showed clinical improvement and decreased incidence of ARDS compared with patients who received low dose steroid treatment. Inhibition of excessive inflammation through timely administration of GC in the early stage of inflammatory cytokine storm effectively prevents the occurrence of ARDS.
Volume
31
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Sistema respiratorio Epidemiología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85090909050
Source
Respiratory Medicine Case Reports
ISSN of the container
22130071
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus