Telemedicine in Adult Rheumatology: In Practice and in Training.

Many rheumatology providers, including fellows-in-training, responded to the immediate need for maintaining patient access to care via telerheumatology during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapidity of this transition did not permit an intentional approach to integrating fellow education and training into virtual patient care. Virtual patient care has since become an integrated, and perhaps, an embedded part of rheumatology practice that will likely endure beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the development of best practices in telerheumatology, including those for fellow education and training as these new entrants prepare to enter our workforce, will benefit the entire specialty. In this work, we seek to describe current models for training learners in virtual patient care, characterize existing barriers to virtual care models, and offer strategies to integrate telerheumatology into curriculum development and training.

Association of Race and Ethnicity With COVID-19 Outcomes in Rheumatic Disease: Data From the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance Physician Registry.

OBJECTIVE: Racial/ethnic minorities experience more severe outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the general US population. This study was undertaken to examine the association between race/ethnicity and COVID-19 hospitalization, ventilation status, and mortality in people with rheumatic disease. METHODS: US patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 were entered into the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance physician registry between March 24, 2020 and August 26, 2020 were included. Race/ethnicity was defined as White, African American, Latinx, Asian, or other/mixed race. Outcome measures included hospitalization, requirement for ventilatory support, and death. Multivariable regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) adjusted for age, sex, smoking status, rheumatic disease diagnosis, comorbidities, medication use prior to infection, and rheumatic disease activity. RESULTS: A total of 1,324 patients were included, of whom 36% were hospitalized and 6% died; 26% of hospitalized patients required mechanical ventilation. In multivariable models, African American patients (OR 2.74 [95% CI 1.90-3.95]), Latinx patients (OR 1.71 [95% CI 1.18-2.49]), and Asian patients (OR 2.69 [95% CI 1.16-6.24]) had higher odds of hospitalization compared to White patients. Latinx patients also had 3-fold increased odds of requiring ventilatory support (OR 3.25 [95% CI 1.75-6.05]). No differences in mortality based on race/ethnicity were found, though power to detect associations may have been limited. CONCLUSION: Similar to findings in the general US population, racial/ethnic minorities with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 had increased odds of hospitalization and ventilatory support. These results illustrate significant health disparities related to COVID-19 in people with rheumatic diseases. The rheumatology community should proactively address the needs of patients currently experiencing inequitable health outcomes during the pandemic.

Efficacy of Tocilizumab in Patients Hospitalized with Covid-19.

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of interleukin-6 receptor blockade in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) who are not receiving mechanical ventilation is unclear. METHODS: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, hyperinflammatory states, and at least two of the following signs: fever (body temperature >38°C), pulmonary infiltrates, or the need for supplemental oxygen in order to maintain an oxygen saturation greater than 92%. Patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive standard care plus a single dose of either tocilizumab (8 mg per kilogram of body weight) or placebo. The primary outcome was intubation or death, assessed in a time-to-event analysis. The secondary efficacy outcomes were clinical worsening and discontinuation of supplemental oxygen among patients who had been receiving it at baseline, both assessed in time-to-event analyses. RESULTS: We enrolled 243 patients; 141 (58%) were men, and 102 (42%) were women. The median age was 59.8 years (range, 21.7 to 85.4), and 45% of the patients were Hispanic or Latino. The hazard ratio for intubation or death in the tocilizumab group as compared with the placebo group was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.38 to 1.81; P = 0.64), and the hazard ratio for disease worsening was 1.11 (95% CI, 0.59 to 2.10; P = 0.73). At 14 days, 18.0% of the patients in the tocilizumab group and 14.9% of the patients in the placebo group had had worsening of disease. The median time to discontinuation of supplemental oxygen was 5.0 days (95% CI, 3.8 to 7.6) in the tocilizumab group and 4.9 days (95% CI, 3.8 to 7.8) in the placebo group (P = 0.69). At 14 days, 24.6% of the patients in the tocilizumab group and 21.2% of the patients in the placebo group were still receiving supplemental oxygen. Patients who received tocilizumab had fewer serious infections than patients who received placebo. CONCLUSIONS: Tocilizumab was not effective for preventing intubation or death in moderately ill hospitalized patients with Covid-19. Some benefit or harm cannot be ruled out, however, because the confidence intervals for efficacy comparisons were wide. (Funded by Genentech; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT04356937.).

Coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes among patients with rheumatic diseases 6 months into the pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: In earlier studies, patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease (RMD) who got infected with COVID-19 had a higher risk of mechanical ventilation than comparators. We sought to determine COVID-19 outcomes among patients with RMD 6 months into the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a cohort study at Mass General Brigham in Boston, Massachusetts, of patients with RMD matched to up to five comparators by age, sex and COVID-19 diagnosis date (between 30 January 2020 and 16 July 2020) and followed until last encounter or 18 August 2020. COVID-19 outcomes were compared using Cox regression. Risk of mechanical ventilation was compared in an early versus a recent cohort of patients with RMD. RESULTS: We identified 143 patients with RMD and with COVID-19 (mean age 60 years; 76% female individuals) and 688 comparators (mean age 59 years; 76% female individuals). There were no significantly higher adjusted risks of hospitalisation (HR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.68-1.11), intensive care unit admission (HR: 1.27, 95% CI: 0.86-1.86), or mortality (HR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.53-1.95) in patients with RMD versus comparators. There was a trend towards a higher risk of mechanical ventilation in the RMD cohort versus comparators, although not statistically significant (adjusted HR: 1.51, 95% CI: 0.93-2.44). There was a trend towards improvement in mechanical ventilation risk in the recent versus early RMD cohort (10% vs 19%, adjusted HR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.17-1.12). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with RMD and comparators had similar risks of poor COVID-19 outcomes after adjusting for race, smoking and comorbidities. The higher risk of mechanical ventilation in the early RMD cohort was no longer detected in a recent cohort, suggesting improved management over time.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and rheumatic disease: a comparative cohort study from a US 'hot spot'.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate differences in manifestations and outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection between those with and without rheumatic disease. METHODS: We conducted a comparative cohort study of patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 (confirmed by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 PCR), compared in a 1:2 ratio with matched comparators on age, sex and date of COVID-19 diagnosis, between 1 March and 8 April 2020, at Partners HealthCare System in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area. We examined differences in demographics, clinical features and outcomes of COVID-19 infection. The main outcomes were hospitalisation, intensive care admission, mechanical ventilation and mortality. RESULTS: We identified 52 rheumatic disease patients with COVID-19 (mean age, 63 years; 69% female) and matched these to 104 non-rheumatic disease comparators. The majority (39, 75%) of patients with rheumatic disease were on immunosuppressive medications. Patients with and without rheumatic disease had similar symptoms and laboratory findings. A similar proportion of patients with and without rheumatic disease were hospitalised (23 (44%) vs 42 (40%)), p=0.50) but those with rheumatic disease required intensive care admission and mechanical ventilation more often (11 (48%) vs 7 (18%), multivariable OR 3.11 (95% CI 1.07 to 9.05)). Mortality was similar between the two groups (3 (6%) vs 4 (4%), p=0.69). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with rheumatic disease and COVID-19 infection were more likely to require mechanical ventilation but had similar clinical features and hospitalisation rates as those without rheumatic disease. These findings have important implications for patients with rheumatic disease but require further validation.