Page 87 - JCTR-11-3

Journal of Clinical and
Translational Research Remdesivir outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19

1. Introduction polymerase chain reaction using nasopharyngeal sample
and administered with RDV were eligible for the study.
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) which RDV was administered intravenously for 5 days with
originated back in December 2019 at Wuhan, China, was a loading dose of 200 mg on day 1 and 100 mg on day 2
caused by the novel pathogen severe acute respiratory onwards.
syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). As of December
1
2023, the World Health Organization had reported over 2.2. Data collection
772 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 7 million
deaths. 2 Patients’ demographics and baseline characteristics
including age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and
Most individuals with COVID-19 experience smoking history were collected from the King Faisal
mild-to-moderate symptoms, including fever, headache, Specialized Hospital in KSA database for medical records.
body pain, sore throat, and loss of taste or smell, while some Data on their medical history including the presence of
may also experience difficulty breathing and diarrhea. The hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, bronchial
infection may also progress to severe pneumonia, causing asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic
congestion, hypoxia, multi-organ failure, and death. 3,4 kidney disease, end-stage renal disease, active cancer,

Remdesivir (RDV), a nucleoside analog, is a broad- human immunodeficiency virus infection, solid organ
spectrum antiviral that inhibits RNA-dependent RNA transplant, bone marrow transplant, autoimmune disease,
polymerase. It was previously recommended to control liver disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic neurological
Ebola, Middle-East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or neuromuscular disease, and COVID-19 vaccination
and SARS-CoV. 5 status were also collected. For COVID-19 vaccination
status, the number of doses administered before
RDV was granted emergency use authorization by COVID-19 diagnosis was also collected. In addition,
the food and drug administration on May 01, 2020, each patient’s most common presenting symptoms were
for hospitalized COVID-19 patients and was officially reported. Laboratory parameters, including lymphocyte
approved on October 22, 2020. 6,7 count, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, and ferritin levels,
The adaptive COVID-19 treatment trial (ACTT) were also included for the analysis, with ferritin levels
reported a significant reduction in recovery time and categorized as <60 or ≥60 ng/mL.
disease progression among hospitalized COVID-19 with Concomitant medications, vaccination status,
pneumonia. Furthermore, the final report from the laboratory findings, oxygen therapy, complications, and
8
SOLIDARITY trial emphasized that RDV usage resulted in clinical outcomes, including the length of hospital stay,
reduced mortality among hospitalized COVID-19 patients ICU admission, the need for mechanical ventilation, and
on oxygen therapy but not mechanical ventilation. 9,10 death, were collected from the electronic health records
Several studies have reported a positive effect of RDV available in the hospital database system.
on COVID-19 clinical outcomes, including survival
rates, clinical status, the need for mechanical ventilation, 2.3. Statistical analysis
intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and hospitalization Statistical analyses were performed using IBM Statistical
period with acceptable safety profile. 11-15 However, there is Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics version 24
no past data related to the efficacy of RDV among the Saudi (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). The data were presented as
Arabia population. The current study aimed to describe numbers and frequencies for categorical variables and
the epidemiological, clinical, and outcomes of COVID-19 mean with standard deviations (SD) for continuous
patients who received RDV and to investigate the length variables. The Chi-square (χ ) test was used for categorical
2
of their hospital stay and oxygen therapy administered variables, while the t-test was used for continuous variables.
in a specialized hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia The Kaplan–Meier curve was used to assess the probability
(KSA). of length of hospital stay associated with patients’ gender,
type of oxygen therapy received, and vaccination status.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study design, population, and treatment 3. Results
3.1. Patient characteristics
This study was a retrospective case series of hospitalized
COVID-19 patients admitted to the King Faisal Specialized We have included 210 patients (56.1% females and 43.9%
Hospital in KSA between January and December 2021. males) in our analysis, with a mean ± SD age of 57.43 ±
COVID-19 patients ≥18 years of age verified with 18.4 years. Of the 210 confirmed COVID-19 patients,

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 81 doi: 10.36922/jctr.24.00027