February 26, 2021

Dexamethasone in Hospitalized Patients with Covid-19 — Preliminary Report

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

Keywords (Tags): treatment

• In patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the administration of 6 mg/day for ten days of the steroid dexamethasone resulted in statistically significantly lower 28-day mortality among those who were receiving either invasive mechanical ventilation (29% vs. 41%) or oxygen alone (23% vs. 26%) at randomization but not among those receiving no respiratory support (18% vs. 14%). Patients in the dexamethasone group also had a shorter duration of hospitalization than those in the usual care group (median, 12 days vs. 13 days). [EDITORIAL NOTE: An earlier analysis of this RECOVERY trial was summarized as a pre-print on July 20, 2020.]

Horby et al. (July 17, 2020). Dexamethasone in Hospitalized Patients with Covid-19 — Preliminary Report. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2021436