Ann Rheum Dis: Clinical characteristics and prognosis of infection with new coronavirus in patients with rheumatism

The study was designed to explore differences in clinical performance and prognosis between rheumatism and non-rheumatic patients after contracting the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19)a comparative cohort study of patients with rheumatic diseases infected with COVID-19 (diagnosed with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 PCR) in the Cooperative Health Care System in Greater Boston, Massachusetts, was compared to a 1:2 ratio with a comparison of age and gender, with a diagnosis date of COVID-19 from March 1 to April 8, 2020The demographic, clinical characteristics and outcome differences of COVID-19 infection were analyzedThe main outcomes are hospitalization, intensive care, mechanical ventilation and deathidentified 52 cases of rheumatism (average age 63 years; 69 per cent in women) and matched them to 104 non-rheumatic controlsMost (39,75%) of rheumatism patients use immunosuppressive drugsSymptoms of rheumatism and non-rheumatism are similar to laboratory test resultsThe proportion of rheumatism and non-rheumatism patients in hospital is similar (23 (44%) vs 42 (40%), p-0.50), but the proportion of intensive care and mechanical ventilation in rheumatism patients is higher (11 (48%) vs 7 (18%), multifactor OR 3.11 (95% CI 1.07-9.05)The mortality rates were similar in both groups (3 (6%) vs 4 (4%), p-0.69)rheumatism patients infected with COVID-19 may require mechanical ventilation, but their clinical characteristics and hospitalization rates are similar to those in non-rheumatic patientsThese findings are important for patients with rheumatism, but need further validation