I am proud to announce the acceptance of our paper entitled Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation is Associated with Lower Mechanical Ventilation and Mortality in COVID-19 Patients: An Interim Safety Analysis in the Journal of Clinical & Experimental Immunology.
Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalized with COVID-19 pneumonia face a wide variety of physical damage which may be a reflection of the intense inflammatory reaction occurring within the body. This surge of pro-inflammatory cytokines is called Cytokine Release Syndrome.
Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve is associated with improvement in the regulation of the immune and inflammatory responses and is associated with a reduction of inflammatory cytokines in conditions such as endotoxemia, ischemia/reperfusion injury, hemorrhagic shock and septic peritonitis.
Our interim analysis showed that VNS in COVID-19 patients was safe and had lower rate of mechanical ventilation and death when compared to other published cohorts.
Additional efficacy data of an additional 25 patients is will be submitted for publication within the next several weeks.
