Clinical management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Expert Rev Clin Immunol
; 17(6): 561-571, 2021 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1159477
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic raises a great challenge in the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which are generally more susceptible to infection events because of the autoimmune condition itself and the treatment with immunomodulatory drugs. The use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), including biologics and targeted-synthetic DMARDs, has aroused particular interest because of both their immunosuppressive effects and their hypothetical potential in COVID-19 treatment.Areas covered For this narrative review, a literature search was conducted between December 2019 and February 2021 on PubMed including epidemiological studies, gathering the main evidence available to date about the impact of COVID-19 on RA patients and the influence of anti-rheumatic drugs on patients' susceptibility to this infection. We also summarize the recommendations from the international guidelines on the management of rheumatic diseases and treatments in this pandemic context, especially focused on RA.Expert opinion About a year after the outbreak of the pandemic, we are able to answer some of the most relevant questions regarding patients with RA and their management in this pandemic context. Our efforts must now be directed toward consolidating the currently available data with more rigorous studies and facing new issues and challenges including, foremost, vaccination.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
/
Antirheumatic Agents
/
COVID-19
/
Immunosuppressive Agents
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Expert Rev Clin Immunol
Journal subject:
Allergy and Immunology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
1744666X.2021.1908887
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