Treatment with hydroxychloroquine in patients with covid-19. Experience of a neurology department

Abstract

The novel coronavirus has generated the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has become the new challenge for the healthcare systems, since there is no etiological treatment and the infectiousness of SARS-CoV2 is exceeding the expectations. Therefore, various treatments have been tried in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus and to enhance the early recovery of the patients. Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug used for decades, has been one of the first drugs tried to reduce the infectivity of the virus. First data were promising, but afterwards, adverse events and long-term evolution of patients outweighed the potential benefits, and its utility was questioned. In this article we are reviewing literature regarding the use of Hydroxychloroquine during the COVID-19 pandemic and we present the experience of its use in the Neurology Department in Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania.