Organizing pneumonia : a late phase complication of COVID-19 responding dramatically to corticosteroids

Organizing pneumonia emerges as a late phase complication of COVID-19. Corticosteroids are standard therapy for organizing pneumonia, but the question of whether an approach with high dose corticosteroids would be beneficial for patients with organizing pneumonia secondary to COVID-19 remains to be...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Oliveira Filho, Cilomar Martins de, Vieceli, Tarsila, Bassotto, Caroline de Fraga, Barbato, João Pedro da Rosa, Garcia, Tiago Severo, Scheffel, Rafael Selbach
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2021
Country:Brasil
Institution:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Repository:Repositório Institucional da UFRGS
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:www.lume.ufrgs.br:10183/220413
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10183/220413
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Infecções por coronavirus
Pneumonia em organização criptogênica
Corticosteróides
COVID-19
Organizing pneumonia
Corticosteroids
Description
Summary:Organizing pneumonia emerges as a late phase complication of COVID-19. Corticosteroids are standard therapy for organizing pneumonia, but the question of whether an approach with high dose corticosteroids would be beneficial for patients with organizing pneumonia secondary to COVID-19 remains to be answered. Herein we report a series of three patients, one male and two females, mean age 58.3 years old, admitted for COVID-19 with severe pulmonary disease requiring ventilatory support. The patients underwent chest computed tomography scans due to maintained hypoxemia, which showed a pattern compatible with organizing pneumonia. The patients were treated with a high dose of corticosteroids (prednisone 1mg/kg PO), showing marked clinical improvement, and decreasing oxygen flow ratio demand. They were discharged after a mean period of 6.3 days of hospitalization. Our report suggests that patients with COVID-19 with organizing pneumonia might benefit from high dose corticosteroids as an adjuvant therapy.