ABSTRACT
The proceedings contain 47 papers. The topics discussed include: increased humoral immune response after vaccination with mRNA-1273 vs BNT162b2 in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases;comparison of anti-fracture effectiveness of denosumab versus bisphosphonates in a registry-based, real-world cohort study;comparison of drug retention of TNF inhibitors, other biologics and JAK inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who discontinued JAK inhibitor therapy;BRD3 regulates the inflammatory and stress response in rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts;effect of methotrexate and folic acid co-administration in arthritis;early anti-S antibody levels predict anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing activity over 24 weeks in RA patients after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination;effect of zoledronate on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers after long-term denosumab therapy: observations in a real-world setting;and developing a screening tool for the detection of interstitial lung disease in systemic sclerosis: the ILD-RISC score.
ABSTRACT
Background: Bioinformatics data, which are becoming more detailed day by day, show that male gender, advanced age, smoking, and comorbidities are associated with poor outcome of COVID-19. However, it is well known that the active disease state that may occur as a result of discontinuing the drugs also increases the susceptibility to infection. Objectives: It was aimed to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the course and treatment of rheumatic disease in patients with infammatory rheumatic musculoskeletal disease (iRMD) using biological or targeted synthetic DMARDs (b/tsDMARDs). Methods: The study was carried out in two stages: while investigating the delay of b/tsDMARD treatment in the frst 3 months of the pandemic with the fear of infected by SARS-Cov-2 in the frst stage, in the second stage, it was investigated whether all patients who decided to continue treatment after interruption in the 12-month period. Results: A total of 521 patients were included in the study. It was seen that the iRMD diagnosis were listed as SpA (54.3%), RA (25.7%), PsA (8.4%), vascu-litis (6.1%), and others (5.4%). The overall 12-month drug retention rate was 92.3%. Concurrent use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) (HR=1.49), iv bDMARD use (HR=1.34), and a history of discontinuation of drug in the frst 3 months of the pandemic (HR=1.19) were determined as factors that reduced 12-month drug retention rates. During a total of 12 months, 34 (6.5%) of patients had COVID-19. COVID-19 was severe in 7 patients and 5 of these patients died.The use of GC (HR=3.81) and having a diagnosis of ILD/COPD (HR=4.96) were found to increase the risk of infected by SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion: The results of this study with a long follow-up period suggest that the retention rates of b/tsDMARD treatment increased with good communication with iRMD patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.