Assessing the Severity of COVID-19 Lung Injury in Rheumatic Diseases Versus the General Population Using Deep Learning-Derived Chest Radiograph Scores.

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 patients with rheumatic disease have a higher risk of mechanical ventilation than the general population. The present study was undertaken to assess lung involvement using a validated deep learning algorithm that extracts a quantitative measure of radiographic lung disease severity. METHODS: We performed a comparative cohort study of rheumatic disease patients with COVID-19 and ≥1 chest radiograph within ±2 weeks of COVID-19 diagnosis and matched comparators. We used unadjusted and adjusted (for age, Charlson comorbidity index, and interstitial lung disease) quantile regression to compare the maximum pulmonary x-ray severity (PXS) score at the 10th to 90th percentiles between groups. We evaluated the association of severe PXS score (>9) with mechanical ventilation and death using Cox regression. RESULTS: We identified 70 patients with rheumatic disease and 463 general population comparators. Maximum PXS scores were similar in the rheumatic disease patients and comparators at the 10th to 60th percentiles but significantly higher among rheumatic disease patients at the 70th to 90th percentiles (90th percentile score of 10.2 versus 9.2; adjusted P = 0.03). Rheumatic disease patients were more likely to have a PXS score of >9 (20% versus 11%; P = 0.02), indicating severe pulmonary disease. Rheumatic disease patients with PXS scores >9 versus ≤9 had higher risk of mechanical ventilation (hazard ratio [HR] 24.1 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 6.7, 86.9]) and death (HR 8.2 [95% CI 0.7, 90.4]). CONCLUSION: Rheumatic disease patients with COVID-19 had more severe radiographic lung involvement than comparators. Higher PXS scores were associated with mechanical ventilation and will be important for future studies leveraging big data to assess COVID-19 outcomes in rheumatic disease patients.

Prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration in people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: results from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated prolonged COVID-19 symptom duration, defined as lasting 28 days or longer, among people with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). METHODS: We analysed data from the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Vaccine Survey (2 April 2021-15 October 2021) to identify people with SARDs reporting test-confirmed COVID-19. Participants reported COVID-19 severity and symptom duration, sociodemographics and clinical characteristics. We reported the proportion experiencing prolonged symptom duration and investigated associations with baseline characteristics using logistic regression. RESULTS: We identified 441 respondents with SARDs and COVID-19 (mean age 48.2 years, 83.7% female, 39.5% rheumatoid arthritis). The median COVID-19 symptom duration was 15 days (IQR 7, 25). Overall, 107 (24.2%) respondents had prolonged symptom duration (≥28 days); 42/429 (9.8%) reported symptoms lasting ≥90 days. Factors associated with higher odds of prolonged symptom duration included: hospitalisation for COVID-19 vs not hospitalised and mild acute symptoms (age-adjusted OR (aOR) 6.49, 95% CI 3.03 to 14.1), comorbidity count (aOR 1.11 per comorbidity, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.21) and osteoarthritis (aOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.01 to 4.27). COVID-19 onset in 2021 vs June 2020 or earlier was associated with lower odds of prolonged symptom duration (aOR 0.42, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.81). CONCLUSION: Most people with SARDs had complete symptom resolution by day 15 after COVID-19 onset. However, about 1 in 4 experienced COVID-19 symptom duration 28 days or longer; 1 in 10 experienced symptoms 90 days or longer. Future studies are needed to investigate the possible relationships between immunomodulating medications, SARD type/flare, vaccine doses and novel viral variants with prolonged COVID-19 symptoms and other postacute sequelae of COVID-19 among people with SARDs.

Temporal trends in COVID-19 outcomes among patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases: from the first wave through the initial Omicron wave.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate temporal trends in incidence and severity of COVID-19 among patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) from the first wave through the initial Omicron wave. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study investigating COVID-19 outcomes among patientswith SARD systematically identified to have confirmed COVID-19 from 1 March 2020 to 31 January 2022 at Mass General Brigham. We tabulated COVID-19 counts of total and severe cases (hospitalisations or deaths) and compared the proportion with severe COVID-19 by calendar period and by vaccination status. We used logistic regression to estimate the ORs for severe COVID-19 for each period compared with the early COVID-19 period (reference group). RESULTS: We identified 1449 patients with SARD with COVID-19 (mean age 58.4 years, 75.2% female, 33.9% rheumatoid arthritis). There were 399 (28%) cases of severe COVID-19. The proportion of severe COVID-19 outcomes declined over calendar time (p for trend <0.001); 46% of cases were severe in the early COVID-19 period (1 March 2020-30 June 2020) vs 15% in the initial Omicron wave (17 December 2021-31 January 2022; adjusted OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.19 to 0.43). A higher proportion of those unvaccinated were severe compared with not severe cases (78% vs 60%). CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of patients with SARD with severe COVID-19 has diminished since early in the pandemic, particularly during the most recent time periods, including the initial Omicron wave. Advances in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 may have improved outcomes among patients with SARD.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outcomes Among Recipients of Anti-CD20 Monoclonal Antibodies for Immune-Mediated Diseases: A Comparative Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with immune-mediated diseases treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies may have worse coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes due to impaired humoral immunity, but differences compared with the general population are unknown. METHODS: We identified patients with immune-mediated diseases who received anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies within 1 year prior to the index date of polymerase chain reaction-confirmed COVID-19 between January 31, 2020, and January 31, 2021. General population comparators with COVID-19 were matched up 5:1 by age, sex, and polymerase chain reaction date. Unadjusted and multivariable adjusted (for age, race, body mass index, and Charlson Comorbidity Index) hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, and death in recipients of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies versus comparators were estimated by using Cox regression. RESULTS: We identified 114 cases patients COVID-19 who had received anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies for immune-mediated diseases (mean age 55 years, 70% female) and 559 matched comparators with COVID-19 (mean age 54 years, 70% female). Patients treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies had higher mortality (adjusted HR 2.16; 95% CI: 1.03-4.54) than matched comparators. Risks of hospitalization (adjusted HR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.62-1.26) and mechanical ventilation use (adjusted HR 0.82; 95% CI: 0.36-1.87) were similar. Similar trends were seen in analyses according to type of indication (eg, rheumatic or neurologic disease) and duration of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody use (<1 or ≥1 year) and after patients with interstitial lung disease, those with cancer, and those on glucocorticoids prior to COVID-19 diagnosis were excluded. CONCLUSION: Patients who received anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies for immune-mediated diseases prior to COVID-19 had higher mortality following COVID-19 than matched comparators, highlighting the urgent need to mitigate excess risks in recipients of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies during the ongoing pandemic.