Coronavirus Study: Nitric Oxide Could Help Patients Breathe Easier
BOSTON (CBS) - An old treatment, used in a new way, could help Covid-19 patients who are having trouble breathing.
Right now, researchers at mass general and several other hospitals are looking into how nitric oxide could improve recovery and keep patients out of intensive care.
"It turned me around there's no two ways about it," said coronavirus patient Tim Ameredes. He says the symptoms hit hardest on Easter Sunday.
"I was coughing quite a bit I got very winded, short of breath and my temperature also spiked over 102," he said.
At the hospital, Ameredes said the coughing continued for hours.
"My lungs were starting to shut down so I had to go on oxygen and fortunately I stabilized because my oxygen levels were dropping," he said.
The next stop would have been intensive care, instead, Ameredes participated in a clinical trial at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center using inhaled nitric oxide.
"Nitric oxide once it's inhaled, seems to help the body actually fight the virus, it has antiviral properties," said Dr. Sitaramesh Emani, of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.
Dr. Emani is investigating giving the treatments -- in a new way-- instead of through a face mask.
"We hope to see their breathing patterns improve, their need for extra oxygen decrease, obviously then avoiding the need to go to the ICU," Dr. Emani said.
There's a similar study underway at Mass General. The yearlong study hopes to include 260 patients who come to the emergency department with symptoms likely caused by Covid-19 and those symptoms must have started less than 12 days before going to the Emergency Room.
Researchers are hopeful, saying nitric oxide has been used to help treat other coronavirus strains.
"I was still on oxygen when I went into the treatment," Ameredes said. "So they had a nasal tube that piped in the oxygen and the nitric oxide and then the following day they took me off oxygen because I didn't need it."
Ameredes is now recovering at home and says he is feeling good. The clinical trial calls for the nitric oxide to be delivered continuously as long as it is needed. Researchers anticipate that can range from several days to about two weeks of treatment.
