Objective: Since the exact treatment was not known in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, one of the traditional methods, immune plasma therapy, was also widely used. Our aim with this study is to examine the effect on prognosis and mortality of the patients hospitalized in the intensive are unit with the diagnosis of COVID-19 and receiving immune plasma therapy.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the files and electronic media records of 209 patients over the age of 60 or between the ages of 18-60, with comorbid diseases and who received immune plasma therapy in the intensive care units of our hospital’s anesthesiology and reanimation clinic, whose diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction test. As a control group, we analyzed the files of 50 patients with similar demographic data who were not given immune plasma therapy. We recorded demographic data of the patients, the day of admission to the intensive care unit, the number of days of hospitalization, comorbid diseases, duration of symptoms and lab parameters of leukocyte count, lymphocyte count, neutrophil count, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, creatine, D-dimer, fibrinogen, ferritin, interleukin-6; also PaO2/FiO2 ratio, oxygen requirement and ventilation status before and after immune plasma treatment. We statistically analyzed these data in terms of mortality and prognosis prediction in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who received immune plasma therapy.
Results: Despite significant improvement in laboratory findings, 62.2% (n=132) of the 209 patients in our study group and 62% (n=31) of the control group died.
Conclusion: Immune plasma therapy does not provide benefit as a rescue treatment and does not reduce mortality in patients with severe COVID-19.