Safety and Feasibility of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy in Patients with Critical COVID-19 Infection – A Comparative Study

Objective: To determine the outcome of Mesenchymal Stem Cell therapy compared to controls in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Study Design: Quasi-Experimental Study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pulmonology, Pakistan Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Oct 2020 to Apr 2021. Methodology: We selected 104 critically affected COVID-19 cases from the COVID High Dependency Unit and Intensive Care Unit. All patients were in critical condition and were not improving on the set protocols with high oxygen dependency. In the Intervention Group (Group-A, n=52) mesenchymal stem cell transplant Group, procedure was done using an intravenous drip in addition to the standard treatment as per hospital protocol while in the Control Group (Group-B, n=52) standard treatment was given using the hospital protocol. The study outcomes were improvement in High Resolution Computed Tomography score and reduction in Fraction of Inspired oxygen (FiO2) dependency up to 28 days post-transfusion or up to discharge. Results: The HRCT severity score (range from 0 to 40) significantly improved in MSCT Group 25.8/40±14.7/40 compared to the controls. Similarly, the FiO2 improved 0.58±0.30 in the MSCT-Group as compared to the Control-Group. Moreover, MSCT significantly decreased mortality 29(55.7%) vs 47(90.3%) compared to the controls. Conclusion: Mesenchymal stem cell therapy is very effective in decreasing the severity of HRCT score, improving oxygenation index and mortality in critical COVID-19 patients.