Beneficial of adding Tocilizumab to standard care in critical forms of Covid-19 pneumonia: Study on paired series.

Introduction: Tocilizumab (TCZ), a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptors, has been tried in various studies as a Covid-19 therapy with controversial results.

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of adding TCZ to standard care (SC) in critical Covid-19 patients.

Methods: it was designed retrospectively as a comparative study on two paired series of critical patients affected with Covid-19: the 1st group received TCZ plus SC versus a 2nd group which received only SC.

[New method of weaning from respiratory assistance. Ventilation based on carbon dioxide].

The authors describe a new device for weaning from mechanical ventilation, based on continuous measurement of end-expiratory concentration of CO 2 (FCO 2 ET). The spontaneous or controlled mode of ventilation is automatically determined by the level of FCO 2 ET in relation to preselected maximum and minimum thresholds. The authors call this device "CO 2MV".