• Haitham M H Qutob, Ramadan A Saad, Hamza Bali, Abdulaziz Osailan, Jumana Jaber, Emad Alzahrani, Jamilah Alyami, Hani Elsayed, Raed Alserihi, and Osama A Shaikhomar.
• Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh, 25732, Saudi Arabia; Medical Laboratory Sciences Department, Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: hqutob@yahoo.com.
• Med Clin (Barc). 2022 Dec 23; 159 (12): 569574569-574.

Background And AimThe most effective way to control severity and mortality rate of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is through sensitive diagnostic approaches and an appropriate treatment protocol. We aimed to identify the effect of adding corticosteroid and Tocilizumab to a standard treatment protocol in treating COVID-19 patients with chronic disease through hematological and lab biomarkers.Materials And MethodsThis study was performed retrospectively on 68 COVID-19 patients with chronic disease who were treated by different therapeutic protocols. The patients were categorized into four groups: control group represented the patients' lab results at admission before treatment protocols were applied; group 1 included patients treated with anticoagulants, Hydroxychloroquine, and antibiotics; group 2 comprised patients treated with Dexamethasone; and group 3 included patients treated with Dexamethasone and Tocilizumab.ResultsThe WBC and neutrophil counts were increased significantly in group 3 upon the treatment when they were compared with patients in group 1 (p=0.004 and p=0.001, respectively). The comparison of C-reactive Protein (CRP) level at admission was higher in group 3 than in group 1 with p=0.030. After 10 days of treatment, CRP level was decreased in all groups, but in group 3 it was statistically significant (p=0.002).ConclusionThe study paves the way into the effectiveness of combining Dexamethasone with Tocilizumab in treatment COVID-19 patients with chronic diseases.Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

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