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Low or High Dose of Dexamethasone in Patients With Respiratory Failure by COVID-19

Efficacy of Low or High Dose of Dexamethasone in Patients With Respiratory Failure by COVID-19

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04726098
Acronym
HIGHLOWDEXA
Enrollment
198
Registered
2021-01-27
Start date
2021-01-15
Completion date
2021-08-31
Last updated
2021-10-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Corticosteroids, Covid19

Keywords

COVID19, respiratory failure, corticosteroids

Brief summary

After RECOVERY trial publication, low dose (6 mg dexamethasone for 10 days) was recommended as the usual care treatment in hospitalized patients with respiratory failure by COVID-19 needing oxygen therapy. RECOVERY trial showed how the use of dexamethasone 6 mg / day for ten days compared to standard treatment without the use of corticosteroids in hospitalized patients reduced mortality at 28 days (22.9% with dexamethasone vs 25.7% without dexamethasone). In the dexamethasone group, the incidence of mortality was lower than standard treatment in patients with hypoxia and the need for mechanical ventilation (29.3% with dexamethasone vs 41.4% without dexamethasone), in patients admitted to the hospital ward with a need for oxygen therapy (23.3% with dexamethasone vs 26.2% without dexamethasone), but they did not find differences between those admitted patients who did not need oxygen therapy. There are two other studies (DEXA-COVID-19 and CoDEX) where they observed benefits of the use of dexamethasone 20 mg / day 5 days, and 10 mg / day 5 days (total 10 days) in patients admitted for respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19. At present, it is unclear what dose of dexamethasone is most beneficial in patients with COVID-19 and respiratory failure.

Detailed description

Objective: The investigators aim to assess the efficacy of high dose of dexamethasone (20 mg / day 5 days, and 10 mg/day 5 days) versus low dose of dexamethasone (6 mg/day 10 days) in patients with respiratory failure by COVID-19.

Interventions

DRUGDexamethasone high dose

High doses: dexamethasone 20 mg/day 5 days + 10 mg/day 5 days (total 10 days)

DRUGDexamethasone low dose

Low doses: dexamethasone 6 mg/day 10 days.

Sponsors

Manuel Taboada Muñiz
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Intervention model description

Randomized, controlled, open-label trial involving hospitalized adult patients with respiratory failure needing oxygen therapy, caused by COVID-19.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age 18 years or older. * Hospitalized COVID-19 patients admitted to the Hospital. * Patients requiring supplemental oxygen. Level 4 using the World Health Organization 7-point Ordinal Scale for clinical improvement * Patients requiring corticosteroids (dexamethasone) according to Hospital protocol.

Exclusion criteria

* Pregnancy or active lactation. * Patient is expected to die in the next 48 hours. * Known history of dexamethasone allergy or known contraindication to the use of corticosteroids. * Daily use of corticosteroids in the past 15 days. * Indication for corticosteroids use for other clinical conditions (e.g. refractory septic shock). * Consent refusal for participating in the trial. * Different level of 4 in Level 4 using the World Health Organization 7-point Ordinal Scale for clinical improvement.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of patients with treatment failure at day 11Day 11 after randomizationdefined as death, need of ICU and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, need of non-invasive ventilation or nasal high-flow oxygen therapy, or worsening of the condition clinic of the patient during treatment (two of these: need to increase Fraction of inspired oxygen inspired\>20%, need for fraction inspired oxygenation\>50%, increase in respiratory rate\>25, increase in inflammatory markers).

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
28-days mortality28 days after randomization
90-days mortality90 days after randomization
Clinical status of patients using the World Health Organization 7-point Ordinal Scale for clinical improvement during 10 days of treatment10 days after randomization1:Not hospitalized, 2:Hospitalized and not treatment, 3: Hospitalized with treatment, not requiring supplemental oxygen, 4:Hospitalized requiring supplemental oxygen, 5:Hospitalized, requiring non-invasive ventilation or nasal high-flow oxygen therapy, 6: Hospitalized requiring invasive ventilation or Extracorporeal (ECMO)
Percentage of patients needing Intensive Care Unit admission28 days after randomization
Percentage of patients without the need for oxygen support at day 11.Day 11 after randomization
Percentage of patients needing non-invasive ventilation or nasal high-flow oxygen therapy28 days after randomization
Length of stay in the hospital90 days after randomization
Infectious complications during hospital admission90 days after randomization
Adverse drug reactions11 days after randomization
Percentage of patients needing invasive mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation28 days after randomization

Countries

Spain

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026