Résumé
Abstract Background: There is a lack of information on the role of chronic use of hydroxychloroquine during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. Our aim was to compare the occurrence of COVID-19 between rheumatic disease patients on hydroxychloroquine with individuals from the same household not taking the drug during the first 8 weeks of community viral transmission in Brazil. Methods: This baseline cross-sectional analysis is part of a 24-week observational multi-center study involving 22 Brazilian academic outpatient centers. All information regarding COVID-19 symptoms, epidemiological, clinical, and demographic data were recorded on a specific web-based platform using telephone calls from physicians and medical students. COVID-19 was defined according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health (BMH) criteria. Mann-Whitney, Chi-square and Exact Fisher tests were used for statistical analysis and two binary Final Logistic Regression Model by Wald test were developed using a backward-stepwise method for the presence of COVID-19. Results: From March 29th to May 17st, 2020, a total of 10,443 participants were enrolled, including 5166 (53.9%) rheumatic disease patients, of whom 82.5% had systemic erythematosus lupus, 7.8% rheumatoid arthritis, 3.7% Sjögren's syndrome and 0.8% systemic sclerosis. In total, 1822 (19.1%) participants reported flu symptoms within the 30 days prior to enrollment, of which 3.1% fulfilled the BMH criteria, but with no significant difference between rheumatic disease patients (4.03%) and controls (3.25%). After adjustments for multiple confounders, the main risk factor significantly associated with a COVID-19 diagnosis was lung disease (OR 1.63; 95% CI 1.03-2.58); and for rheumatic disease patients were diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.19-6.63) and glucocorticoids above 10 mg/ day (OR 2.05; 95% CI 1.31-3.19). In addition, a recent influenza vaccination had a protective effect (OR 0.674; 95% CI 0.46-0.98). Conclusion: Patients with rheumatic disease on hydroxychloroquine presented a similar occurrence of COVID-19 to household cohabitants, suggesting a lack of any protective role against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Trial registration Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC; RBR - 9KTWX6).
Résumé
Abstract Hydroxychloroquine is widely used by rheumatologists for the treatment of various diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis because of its safety and low cost. However, it can cause retinal abnormalities. Until today, there is no Brazilian protocol for screening for retinal changes in these patients. We reviewed the medical records and optical coherence tomography of all patients who had attended at Hychloroquine Ambulatory of HFSE, in the period from March/ 2015 until November/2016.
Resumo A Hidroxicloroquina é amplamente utilizada por reumatologistas para o tratamento de várias condições, como os lúpus eritematoso sistêmico e artrite reumatoide, pelo seu baixo custo e relativa segurança. Porém, esta droga pode causar danos à retina. Até o presente momento, não há protocolo brasileiro para o screening de alterações retinianas devido ao uso desta medicação. Foi realizada revisão de prontuário e análise de imagens de tomografia de coerência óptica de pacientes atendidos no período de Março de 2015 a Novembro de 2016 no ambulatório de Hidroxicloroquina do Hospital Federal dos Servidores do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.