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Correspondence response
Response to: ‘Correspondence on ‘Association between treatment with colchicine and improved survival in a single-centre cohort of adult hospitalised patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome’’ by Kawada
  1. Silvia Piantoni1,2,
  2. Laura Andreoli1,2,
  3. Enrico Colombo3,4,
  4. Monia Mendeni3,4,
  5. Maria Laura Ghirardelli3,4,
  6. Antonio Brucato5,
  7. Massimo Imazio6,
  8. Roberto Furloni3,4,
  9. Franco Franceschini1,2,
  10. Paolo Airó2,
  11. Mirko Scarsi3,4
  1. 1 Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
  2. 2 Rheumatology and Clinical immunology Unit, ASST Spedali Civili of Brescia, Brescia, Italy
  3. 3 Internal Medicine Department, ASST Valcamonica, Hospital of Esine, Esine (Brescia), Italy
  4. 4 COVID Unit, ASST Valcamonica, Hospital of Esine, Esine (Brescia), Italy
  5. 5 Università di Milano, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences “Sacco”, Ospedale Fatebenefratelli, Milano, Italy
  6. 6 University Cardiology, A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Torino, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Dr Silvia Piantoni, Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, ASST Spedali Civili and University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; slv.piantoni{at}gmail.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-219787

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    We read with great interest the letter by Kawada in which the studies assessing colchicine as a treatment for COVID-19 were reviewed.1 Given its known inhibitory effect on NACHT-LRRPYD-containing protein 3 inflammasome2 and its possible antiviral properties,2 colchicine was hypothesised as a candidate therapy for COVID-19 since the very beginning of the pandemic.3 4 To the best of our knowledge, our observational retrospective study5 reported on the largest number of patients with COVID-19 treated with colchicine (122 consecutive patients), and they were compared with a control group treated with the Standard of Care (SoC, 140 consecutive patients).5 Kawada underlined the effectiveness of colchicine in reducing mortality and the need for non-invasive ventilation, as shown by different studies.5–7 After the hospital discharge, we observed additional deaths in patients treated with colchicine and in those treated with SoC (p=0.25). The long-term analysis of our cohort confirmed the original description of improved survival for patients treated with colchicine (mortality rate at 270 days: colchicine 20% vs SoC 44%; p=0.0001). We would like to point out the statement by Kawada reporting that ferritin and arterial oxygen tension (or pressure) (PaO2 …

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Josef S Smolen

    • Twitter @piantoni_silvia, @lauraandreoli80

    • Contributors I confirm that all the authors have approved the manuscript, which is original and not accepted for publication elsewhere.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.

    • Ethics approval The off-label use of colchicine was supported by the hospital administration as the emergency situation of COVID-19, which was particularly severe in Lombardy with dozens of new patients on a daily basis, had to be managed quickly and amid shortage of 'Standard of Care' treatments such as antiviral drugs and hydroxychloroquine.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.

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