Pilot Study on Cytokine Filtration in COVID-19 ARDS

Background: There are no proven therapies for COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 infects the respiratory epithelium of the lower airways, causing widespread damage via cytopathic effects, resulting in severe inflammation and Pneumonitis. High local and circulating levels of cytokines, or cytokine storm, can lead to capillary leak syndrome, progressive lung injury, respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Methods: This is a pilot randomized, controlled, uni-center study testing safety and efficacy of cytokine filtration on patients with severe ARDS. Eligible patients will be randomized to 72 hours filtration or no filtration on top of the standard treatment for ARDS. Indications for randomization are patients with moderate or severe ARDS with need of ventilation support (either invasive or non-invasive), with inflammatory markers. The primary outcome will be days on mechanical ventilation (MV) support. Secondary outcomes are 30-day mortality, ICU days, need for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support, duration of renal replacement therapy (RRT) and catecholamine therapies, hospital length of stay, multi-organ failure. All analysis will be done according to the intention to treat principle.