Fibrinolytic Therapy to Treat ARDS in the Setting of COVID-19 Infection

Study Summary

The global pandemic COVID-19 has overwhelmed the medical capacity to accommodate a large surge of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In the United States, the number of cases of COVID-19 ARDS is projected to exceed the number of available ventilators. Reports from China and Italy indicate that 22-64% of critically ill COVID-19 patients with ARDS will die. ARDS currently has no evidence-based treatments other than low tidal ventilation to limit mechanical stress on the lung and prone positioning. A new therapeutic approach capable of rapidly treating and attenuating ARDS secondary to COVID-19 is urgently needed. The dominant pathologic feature of viral-induced ARDS is fibrin accumulation in the microvasculature and airspaces. Substantial preclinical work suggests antifibrinolytic therapy attenuates infection provoked ARDS. In 2001, a phase I trial 7 demonstrated the urokinase and streptokinase were effective in patients with terminal ARDS, markedly improving oxygen delivery and reducing an expected mortality in that specific patient cohort from 100% to 70%. A more contemporary approach to thrombolytic therapy is tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) due to its higher efficacy of clot lysis with comparable bleeding risk 8. We therefore propose a phase IIa clinical trial with two intravenous (IV) tPA treatment arms and a control arm to test the efficacy and safety of IV tPA in improving respiratory function and oxygenation, and consequently, successful extubation, duration of mechanical ventilation and survival.

Primary Outcome

PaO2/FiO2 change (increase) from pre-to-post intervention at 48 hours post randomization. Ideally, the PaO2/FiO2 will be measured with the patient in the same prone/supine position as in baseline, as change in positions may artificially reduce the change (increase) attributable to the study drug. However, given the pragmatic nature of the trial, the prone/supine position will be determined by the attending physician, in which case, we will use as an outcome the PaO2/FiO2 closest to the 48 hours

Interventions

• DRUG Alteplase 50 MG [Activase]