ABSTRACT
Objectives: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) caused a pandemic, which has been going on for about 1 year. How long the pandemic will continue remains uncertain. Determining the etiology of pneumonia is the most important point for the treatment approach. In this study, it was aimed to determine the parameters that might be useful in the differentiation of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) from COVID-19 pneumonia. Materials and Methods: CAP group consisted of 53 people who applied to the infectious diseases polyclinic and chest diseases polyclinic between 01.12.2019 and 30.01.2020 in our country, including the periods when the incidence of CAP increased and influenza peaked, and were hospitalized after being diagnosed with pneumonia. For the COVID-19 pneumonia group, 37 patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 detected by polymerase chain reaction from the combined nasal throat swab and with computed tomography showing lesions consistent with COVID-19 were included.
ABSTRACT
Background and aims: Ocrelizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody effective against CD20 positive B cells, approved by the FDA in 2017 to treat RRMS and PPMS. Despite these clinical studies, real-life data on ocrelizumab are limited. Methods: We conducted a retrospective single-center study in Turkey. We obtained medical record data of patients who received at least one infusion of ocrelizumab and were followed for one year before and after treatment initiation. Results: 240 MS patients were included in our study (58.75%) RRMS, (21.25%) SPMS, and (20%) PPMS). Median follow-up was14 months (range, 4-42). 92% of all patients received another DMT or immunosuppressant (98.58% of RRMS, 100% of SPMS, 64.58% of PPMS) prior to treatment with ocrelizumab. ARR before and after initiation of ocrelizumab for both the RRMS and SPMS groups (RRMS, 0.8 vs. 0.1;SPMS, 0.44 vs. 0.04). The most common reason for switching to ocrelizumab was clinical and/or radiological activity. NEDA status at year one was achieved in 88.54% of the RRMS population, and disability progression was found at 12.77% in the same MS subtype. Despite premedication (97.91%), infusion-related reactions were reported in (15.41%). The most common infection in our study was COVID-19 infection (18.33%), followed by urinary and upper respiratory tract infections. Conclusion: According to the first real-world preliminary study in the Turkish MS population using ocrelizumab, it is a well-tolerated, safe, and effective treatment agent in suppressing disease activity in both RRMS and progressive MS forms.