Effect of Convalescent Plasma Therapy on Time to Clinical Improvement in Patients With Severe and Life-threatening COVID-19
A Randomized Clinical Trial
Ling Li, MD, PhD1,2; Wei Zhang, MD3,4; Yu Hu, MD, PhD5; et alXunliang Tong, MD, PhD6; Shangen Zheng, MD7; Juntao Yang, PhD8; Yujie Kong, MD1,2; Lili Ren, PhD9,10; Qing Wei, MD11; Heng Mei, MD, PhD5; Caiying Hu, MD12; Cuihua Tao, MD13,14; Ru Yang, MD15; Jue Wang, MD1,2; Yongpei Yu, PhD16; Yong Guo, PhD17; Xiaoxiong Wu, MD18; Zhihua Xu, MD12,19; Li Zeng, MD3,20; Nian Xiong, MD12,21; Lifeng Chen, MD22; Juan Wang, MD11; Ning Man, MD23; Yu Liu, PhD1; Haixia Xu, MD1,2; E. Deng, MS1; Xuejun Zhang, MS1; Chenyue Li, MD1,2; Conghui Wang, PhD9; Shisheng Su, PhD17; Linqi Zhang, PhD24; Jianwei Wang, PhD9,10; Yanyun Wu, MD, PhD25; Zhong Liu, MD, PhD1,2
Author Affiliations
JAMA. Published online June 3, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.10044
Abstract
Importance Convalescent plasma is a potential therapeutic option for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but further data from randomized clinical trials are needed.
Objective To evaluate the efficacy and adverse effects of convalescent plasma therapy for patients with COVID-19.
Design, Setting, and Participants Open-label, multicenter, randomized clinical trial performed in 7 medical centers in Wuhan, China, from February 14, 2020, to April 1, 2020, with final follow-up April 28, 2020. The trial included 103 participants with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 that was severe (respiratory distress and/or hypoxemia) or life-threatening (shock, organ failure, or requiring mechanical ventilation). The trial was terminated early after 103 of a planned 200 patients were enrolled.