Baricitinib in the Treatment of a Critical Patient with COVID-19 Pneumonia: a case report

A 72-year-old male presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of diarrhea after having tested positive for COVID-19 two days prior. He initially had minimal respiratory complaints, but was eventually transferred to the intensive care unit for acute hypoxic respiratory failure. In addition to dexamethasone, remdesivir, and antibiotics, the patient was treated with baricitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor that was recently granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. He had an extensive and complicated hospital course and had to be placed on mechanical ventilation, ultimately undergoing tracheostomy. After 78 days of hospitalization, his family withdrew life-sustaining measures and the patient died shortly thereafter. This case details the use of baricitinib for treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia, and demonstrates the need for additional studies regarding the efficacy of this drug