Table 1.
Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics
| Anakinra group (n=52) | Historical group (n=44) | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 71·0 (13·1) | 71·1 (14·9) | 0·97 | |
| Age category | .. | .. | 0·80 | |
| <50 years | 2 (4%) | 1 (2%) | .. | |
| 50–69 years | 23 (44%) | 22 (50%) | .. | |
| ≥70 years | 27 (52%) | 21 (48%) | .. | |
| Sex | .. | .. | 0·21 | |
| Male | 36 (69%) | 25 (57%) | .. | |
| Female | 16 (31%) | 19 (43%) | .. | |
| Body-mass index, kg/m2 | 25·5 (4·0) | 29·0 (5·7) | 0·0009 | |
| Comorbidities | .. | .. | .. | |
| Hypertension | 31 (60%) | 29 (66%) | 0·53 | |
| Diabetes | 14 (27%) | 16 (36%) | 0·32 | |
| Cardiopathy | 9 (17%) | 11 (25%) | 0·36 | |
| Stroke | 4 (8%) | 7 (16%) | 0·21 | |
| Pulmonary disease* | 8 (15%) | 12 (27%) | 0·15 | |
| Number of comorbidities ≥2 vs 0–1 | 29 (56%) | 20 (45%) | 0·22 | |
| Not to be resuscitated | 26 (50%) | 20 (45%) | 0·66 | |
| Positive swab RT-PCR† | 36/41 (88%) | 33/34 (97%) | 0·14 | |
| Chest CT | .. | .. | 0·55 | |
| Lung infiltrates <50% | 31 (60%) | 25/38 (66%)‡ | .. | |
| Lung infiltrates ≥50% | 21 (40%) | 13/38 (34%)‡ | .. | |
| Duration of symptoms before inclusion, days | 8·4 (4·3) | 6·2 (3·6) | 0·0088 | |
| Clinical inclusion parameters | .. | .. | 0·076 | |
| SpO2 ≤93% under 6 L/min or more oxygen therapy | 42 (81%) | 41 (93%) | .. | |
| SpO2 ≤93% under 3 L/min oxygen therapy with aggravation§ | 10 (19%) | 3 (7%) | .. | |
| Oxygen saturation, % | 91·6% (2·4) | 92·1% (3·9) | 0·53 | |
| Oxygen therapy, L/min | 7·9 (3·6) | 5·6 (3·7) | 0·33 | |
| Low-flow oxygen therapy | 32 (62%) | 25 (57%) | 0·22 | |
| High-flow oxygen therapy | 20 (38%) | 19 (43%) | .. | |
| Persistent fever >38°C | 28 (54%) | 28 (64%) | 0·33 | |
| Laboratory values | .. | .. | .. | |
| Neutrophil count, × 109 cells per L (normal range 1·8–7·5) | 7·48 (5·73) | 5·61 (2·89) | 0·054 | |
| Lymphocyte count, × 109 cells per L (normal range 1–4) | 0·84 (0·38) | 1·14 (1·12) | 0·12 | |
| Platelet count, × 109 cells per L (normal range 150–400) | 259 (114) | 201 (83) | 0·0071 | |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L (normal <5) | 173 (67) | 154 (76) | 0·20 | |
| Lactate dehydrogenase, U/L (normal range 125–220) | 514 (216) | 428 (190) | 0·16 | |
| Interleukin-6, pg/L (normal <7) | 92·7 (59·5) | .. | .. | |
| Serum ferritin, μg/L (normal range 30–300) | 2025 (2303) | .. | .. | |
| D dimer, ng/mL (normal <500) | 5061 (8689) | 2511 (3162) | 0·32 | |
| Alanine aminotransferase, IU/L (normal <35) | 51 (42) | 40 (27) | 0·18 | |
| Aspartate aminotransferase, IU/L (normal <45) | 68 (39) | 70 (50) | 0·79 | |
| Creatinine, mg/dL (normal range 0·84–1·21) | 1·08 (0·69) | 0·99 (0·41) | 0·45 | |
| Concomitant treatments | .. | .. | .. | |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 47 (90%) | 27 (61%) | 0·0007 | |
| Azithromycin | 49 (94%) | 34 (77%) | 0·015 | |
| β-lactams | 51 (98%) | 43 (98%) | 0·90 | |
| Corticosteroid pulse | 2 (4%) | 0 | 0·11 | |
Data are mean (SD) or n (%).
*
Pulmonary disease included asthma, emphysema, sleep apnoea, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
†
Swab RT-PCR was not done for 11 patients in the anakinra group and ten patients in the historical group.
‡
In the historical group, six patients had a chest x-ray that demonstrated bilateral pneumonia, and no chest CT was done.
§
Aggravation was defined by a loss of 3% of the oxygen saturation in ambient air over the last 24 h.