Background: The Covid-19 pandemic may have a deleterious impact on patients with autoimmune systemic diseases (ASD) due to their deep immune-system alterations. Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of symptomatic Covid-19 and its correlations with both organ involvement and ongoing treatments in a large series of Italian ASD patients during the first wave of pandemic. Methods: Our multicenter telephone 6-week survey included 3,029 unselected ASD patients enrolled at 36 tertiary referral centers of northern, central, and southern Italian macro-areas with different diffusion of the pandemic. Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was classified as definite Covid-19 (presence of symptoms plus positive oral/nasopharyngeal swabs) or highly suspected Covid-19 (highly suggestive symptoms, in the absence of a swab testing). Results: A significantly higher prevalence of definite plus highly suspected Covid-19 compared to the Italian general population was detected in the whole ASD series (p=.000), as well as in patients from the three macro-areas (p=.000 in all). Statistically higher prevalence of Covid-19 was also found in connective tissue diseases compared to chronic arthritis subgroup (p=.000) and in ASD patients with pre-existing interstitial lung involvement (p=.000). Patients treated with either conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and/or biological DMARDs showed a significantly lower prevalence of Covid-19 (p=.000 in both). Finally, scleroderma patients undergoing low-dose aspirin showed a significantly lower rate of Covid-19 compared to those without (p=0.003). Conclusion: The higher prevalence of Covid-19 in ASD patients, along with the significant correlations with important clinical features and therapeutic regimens, suggests the need to develop targeted prevention/management strategies during the current pandemic wave.

Covid-19 and rheumatic autoimmune systemic diseases: Role of pre-existing lung involvement and ongoing treatments / Ferri, C.; Giuggioli, D.; Raimondo, V.; L'Andolina, M.; Dagna, L.; Tavoni, A.; Caso, F.; Ursini, F.; Ruscitti, P.; Caminiti, M.; Foti, R.; Riccieri, V.; Guiducci, S.; Pellegrini, R.; Zanatta, E.; Varcasia, G.; Olivo, D.; Gigliotti, P.; Cuomo, G.; Murdaca, G.; Cecchetti, R.; De Angelis, R.; Romeo, N.; Ingegnoli, F.; Cozzi, F.; Codullo, V.; Cavazzana, I.; Colaci, M.; Abignano, G.; De Santis, M.; Lubrano, E.; Fusaro, E.; Della Rossa, A.; Spinella, A.; Lumetti, F.; De Luca, G.; Bellando-Randone, S.; Visalli, E.; Dal Bosco, Y.; Amato, G.; Giannini, D.; Bilia, S.; Masini, F.; Pellegrino, G.; Pigatto, E.; Generali, E.; Mariano, G. P.; Pettiti, G.; Zanframundo, G.; Brittelli, R.; Aiello, V.; Caminiti, R.; Scorpiniti, D.; Ferrari, T.; Campochiaro, C.; Brusi, V.; Fredi, M.; Moschetti, L.; Cacciapaglia, F.; Gragnani, L.; Monti, M.; Lorini, S.; Paparo, S. R.; Ragusa, F.; Mazzi, V.; Elia, G.; Ferrari, S. M.; Di Cola, I.; Vadacca, M.; Lorusso, S.; Barsotti, S.; Aprile, M. L.; Marco, T.; Miccoli, M.; Bosello, S.; Matucci-Cerinic, M.; D'Angelo, S.; Doria, A.; Franceschini, F.; Meliconi, R.; Iannone, F.; Giacomelli, R.; Zignego, A. L.; Fallahi, P.; Antonelli, A.. - In: CURRENT PHARMACEUTICAL DESIGN. - ISSN 1381-6128. - 27:41(2021), pp. 4245-4252. [10.2174/1381612827666210903103935]

Covid-19 and rheumatic autoimmune systemic diseases: Role of pre-existing lung involvement and ongoing treatments

De Angelis R.;
2021-01-01

Abstract

Background: The Covid-19 pandemic may have a deleterious impact on patients with autoimmune systemic diseases (ASD) due to their deep immune-system alterations. Objective: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of symptomatic Covid-19 and its correlations with both organ involvement and ongoing treatments in a large series of Italian ASD patients during the first wave of pandemic. Methods: Our multicenter telephone 6-week survey included 3,029 unselected ASD patients enrolled at 36 tertiary referral centers of northern, central, and southern Italian macro-areas with different diffusion of the pandemic. Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection was classified as definite Covid-19 (presence of symptoms plus positive oral/nasopharyngeal swabs) or highly suspected Covid-19 (highly suggestive symptoms, in the absence of a swab testing). Results: A significantly higher prevalence of definite plus highly suspected Covid-19 compared to the Italian general population was detected in the whole ASD series (p=.000), as well as in patients from the three macro-areas (p=.000 in all). Statistically higher prevalence of Covid-19 was also found in connective tissue diseases compared to chronic arthritis subgroup (p=.000) and in ASD patients with pre-existing interstitial lung involvement (p=.000). Patients treated with either conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and/or biological DMARDs showed a significantly lower prevalence of Covid-19 (p=.000 in both). Finally, scleroderma patients undergoing low-dose aspirin showed a significantly lower rate of Covid-19 compared to those without (p=0.003). Conclusion: The higher prevalence of Covid-19 in ASD patients, along with the significant correlations with important clinical features and therapeutic regimens, suggests the need to develop targeted prevention/management strategies during the current pandemic wave.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11566/294263
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