Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients’ cohort
| Total (n=56) | Sarilumab (n=28) | Comparison group (n=28) | P value | |
| Age (years) | 56 (51–60) | 56 (49–60) | 57 (52–60) | 0.37 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 44 (78) | 24 (85) | 20 (71) | 0.32 |
| Duration of symptoms before enrolment (days) | 7 (7–10) | 7 (6–10) | 7 (7–10) | 0.81 |
| Hospitalisation before enrolment (days) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 3 (1–3) | 0.51 |
| Coexisting conditions, n (%) | ||||
| Arterial hypertension | 17 (30) | 6 (21) | 11 (39) | 0.24 |
| Tobacco smoking | 10 (18) | 5 (18) | 5 (18) | 0.99 |
| Dyslipidaemia | 8 (14) | 4 (14) | 4 (14) | 0.99 |
| Coronary artery disease | 6 (21) | 2 (8) | 4 (14) | 0.66 |
| Type 2 diabetes | 9 (16) | 3 (11) | 6 (21) | 0.46 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 2 (4) | 1 (4) | 1 (4) | 0.99 |
| Chronic renal failure | 3 (5) | 1 (4) | 2 (8) | 0.99 |
| Oxygen support, n (%) | ||||
| Non-invasive positive-pressure ventilation | 41 (73) | 21 (75) | 20 (71) | 0.99 |
| High-flow oxygen (FiO2 ≥40 mm Hg) | 15 (27) | 7 (25) | 8 (28) | 0.99 |
| Respiratory status, n (%) | ||||
| PaO2/FiO2 ratio 200–300 | 4 (7) | 1 (4) | 3 (11) | 0.61 |
| PaO2/FiO2 ratio 100–200 | 22 (39) | 10 (36) | 12 (43) | 0.78 |
| PaO2/FiO2 ratio <100 | 30 (54) | 17 (60) | 13 (46) | 0.42 |
| Fever >38°C, n (%) | 37 (66) | 20 (64) | 17 (54) | 0.57 |
| Laboratory values | ||||
| Neutrophils (normal 1800–7000 cells/µL) | 6000 (4000–8600) | 6350 (3850–8525)) | 5400 (4000–8650) | 0.81 |
| Lymphocytes (normal 1000–4800 cells/µL) | 900 (700–1200) | 950 (700–1175) | 800 (600–1200) | 0.51 |
| Platelets (normal 130–400 cells/µL) | 242 (185–315) | 255 (182–300) | 221 (176–409) | 0.79 |
| LDH (normal 125–220 IU/L) | 479 (394–594) | 468 (397–585) | 495 (389–635) | 0.64 |
| CRP (normal <6 mg/L) | 152 (116–210) | 143 (101–224) | 152 (122–208) | 0.54 |
| Ferritin (normal 30–400 ng/mL) | 1376 (1023–6927) | 1849 (1006–2904) | 1234 (1066–2987) | 0.97 |
| IL-6 (normal <7 pg/mL) | 60 (36.4–126) | 67.5 (37.5–127) | 46 (34–117) | 0.68 |
| D-dimer (normal 0.27–0.77 µg/mL) | 1.41 (0.78–2.29) | 1.27 (0.59–1.99) | 2 (0.88–5.96) | 0.07 |
| Creatine kinase (normal 20–195 IU/L) | 115 (62–214) | 135 (69–216) | 87 (29–162) | 0.17 |
| AST (normal 5–35 IU/L) | 57 (39–86) | 57 (42–79) | 55 (28–98) | 0.61 |
| ALT (normal 6–59 IU/L) | 47 (30–73) | 47 (34–73) | 49 (24–88) | 0.83 |
| Radiological features* | ||||
| Consolidation (cc) | 516 (289–828) | 504 (288–846) | 622 (266–993) | 0.97 |
| Consolidation (%) | 15.8 (7.1–26.1) | 16.6 (7.4–28.3) | 14.2 (5.2–37.2) | 0.72 |
| Ground glass (cc) | 1129 (954–1378) | 1194 (963–1384) | 992 (843–2138) | 0.41 |
| Ground glass (%) | 33.9 (30.3–44.6) | 34.5 (31.1–43.8) | 32.2 (19.8–55.6) | 0.77 |
| Unaffected lung (cc) | 1289 (801–2761) | 1241 (781–2467) | 1467 (484–3203) | 0.86 |
| Unaffected lung (%) | 44.6 (26.1–60) | 44.3 (26.5–59.2) | 47.6 (10.1–74.85) | 0.97 |
Continuous data are reported as median (IQR). Categorical data are reported as number of patients (n) and percentage (%). A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
*CT scan was performed at baseline in n=20 patients treated with sarilumab and in n=8 patients treated with standard of care.
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; CRP, C-reactive protein; IL-6, interleukin 6; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; PaO2/FiO2 ratio, partial pressure of arterial oxygen/fraction of inspired oxygen ratio.