%0 Journal Article %A Alibrahim, Rim S. %A Elmekaty, Eman Z. %A Elmekaty, Mohamed Z. I. %A Edbais, Mohammad %A Alkhatib, Mohammed %A Daghfal, Joanne %A Almaslamani, Muna A. %A Omrani, Ali S. %T Remdesivir for patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia requiring high oxygen support %D 2022 %J Qatar Medical Journal, %V 2022 %N 3 %@ 2227-0426 %C 25 %R https://doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2022.25 %K remdesivir %K mechanical ventilation %K coronavirus %K severe pneumonia %K bradycardia %K intensive care unit %I Hamad bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press), %X Background: Treatment options for patients with critical Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) are limited. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes associated with remdesivir therapy in patients with COVID-19 who require non-invasive (NIV) ventilation or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV). Methods: Data were retrospectively extracted for adults with COVID-19 confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) between August 1, 2020 and January 28, 2021 who received ≥ 48 hours of remdesivir therapy while on NIV or IMV. Clinical improvement was defined as two-category improvement on an eight-point ordinal severity scale. Results: A total of 133 individuals were included, of which 114 (85.7%) were on NIV and 19 (14.3%) were on IMV at the time of remdesivir initiation. The majority of the patients were males (62.4%), and the median age was 56 years. All the patients received concomitant dexamethasone therapy. Remdesivir treatment was commenced after a median of 7 days from onset of symptoms and was continued for a median of 5 days. Clinical improvement within 28 days was achieved in 101 patients (75.9%); among which, 78.1% and 63.2% were subjected to baseline NIV and IMV, respectively. Among the 11 (8.3%) patients who died of any cause by day 28, 9 (7.9%) and 2 (10.5%) were subjected to baseline NIV and IMV, respectively. The most frequent adverse events were sinus bradycardia (21, 13.1%) and alanine transaminase increase (18, 11.3%). Almost all adverse events were classified as Grades 1–3. Conclusion: The use of remdesivir in combination with systemic corticosteroids is associated with high recovery rates and low all-cause mortality in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who require NIV or IMV. The results need confirmation from clinical trials of appropriate design and size. %U https://www.qscience.com/content/journals/10.5339/qmj.2022.25