Interstitial Lung Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Practical Review.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease, which primarily causes symmetric polyarthritis. An extrarticolar involvement is common, and the commonly involved organ is lungs. Although cardiac disease is responsible for most RA-related deaths, pulmonary disease is also a major contributor, accounting for ~10-20% of all mortality. Pulmonary disease is a common (60-80% of patients with RA) extra-articular complication of RA. Optimal screening, diagnostic, and treatment strategies of pulmonary disease remain uncertain, which have been the focus of an ongoing investigation. Clinicians should regularly assess patients with RA for the signs and symptoms of pulmonary disease and, reciprocally, consider RA and other connective tissue diseases when evaluating a patient with pulmonary disease of an unknown etiology. RA directly affects all anatomic compartments of the thorax, including the lung parenchyma, large and small airways, pleura, and less commonly vessels. In addition, pulmonary infection and drug-induced lung disease associated with immunosuppressive agents used for the treatment of RA may occur.

Prevalence of COVID infections in a population of rheumatic patients from Lombardy and Marche treated with biological drugs or small molecules: A multicentre retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about the management of systemic immunosuppressive treatments for rheumatic conditions. It is well known that rheumatic patients are at risk of developing infections because of their immunocompromised state. Moreover, drugs such as hydroxychloroquine or tocilizumab that are widely used to treat rheumatic diseases are now being used to treat COVID-19. The aim of this multicentre retrospective study of rheumatic patients in the Italian regions of Lombardy and Marche was to determine whether patients receiving biological or small molecules treatment are more susceptible to the development of COVID-19 than the general population. METHODS: The local registry data of 10,260 rheumatic patients being treated with bDMARDs or small molecules were evaluated from 15 March to 23 April 2020. The final analysis was based on the registry data relating to 7.204, telephone contacts and/or outpatient visits. RESULTS: Forty-seven of the 7.204 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19, seven of whom died; the patients who had symptoms resembling those of COVID-19 but had negative swabs were considered negative for the disease. The overall infection rate was 0.65, and the crude case fatality risk (CFR) in the patients with COVID-19 was 14.9%. There was no difference in the mortality rate among the patients receiving the different individual biological drugs or small molecules. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the susceptibility of rheumatic patients to COVID-19 is the same as that of the general population, but confirm that age, disease duration, and the number of co-morbidities are associated with an increased risk of a severe form of the disease. It seems that immunosuppressants drugs do not effectively represent a risk factor for COVID- 19.

User preference for a portable syringe pump for iloprost infusion.

PURPOSE: Administration of intravenous iloprost - a first-line European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)-recommended choice for the treatment of scleroderma (SSc)-related digital vasculopathy - requires repeated treatment cycles of 6 hours per day in a hospital setting. During the infusion, patient mobility is considerably restricted due to the size and fixity of traditional syringe pumps. The aim of this study was to evaluate the satisfaction level of patients and nurses, after the introduction of a new portable syringe pump (Infonde(®), Italfarmaco S.p.A., Milan, Italy) at the Department of Rheumatology, Magenta Hospital, Milan, Italy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-four consecutive SSc patients receiving stable therapy with iloprost, previously administered with a fixed pump, were treated using the portable Infonde(®) pump. Patients (n=34) and nurses (n=4) were asked to answer a nine- and six-item questionnaire, respectively, to assess the satisfaction of the administration comparing the new device versus the previous one. The health care staff of the ward developed the questionnaire, and the response scores ranged from 0 (fixed device better) to 10 (portable device better); thus a score >5 indicates a preference for Infonde(®). RESULTS: Patients' answers indicated a preference towards the new portable syringe pump, versus the previous fixed pump. Questionnaires administered to patients generated a total of 306 responses, with over 95% of the responses in the range 8-10, of which 89% had a score equal to 10. The responses of nurses showed a score equal to 10 in 100% cases. No significant adverse events were recorded, indicating no change in the tolerability profile of the drug. CONCLUSION: Iloprost administration with Infonde(®) pump was preferred by both patients and health care professionals, and was well tolerated. The possibility to perform daily activities and the freedom of movement suggest a positive impact of Infonde(®) on the treatment, with a potential favorable effect on the quality of life of patients during the many hours spent receiving the infusion.

Tumour necrosis factor alpha inhibitor therapy and rehabilitation for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: To systematically review the evidence for a synergistic effect of combining rehabilitation with biological anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). METHODS: Data were analysed to identify the most effective rehabilitation programmes, the best endpoints for effectiveness, and patient subgroups most likely to benefit from combination therapy. Systematic MEDLINE and Embase searches were performed to identify studies evaluating rehabilitation programmes and biological therapy in patients with AS. Evidence was categorised by study type, and efficacy, adverse effects and other outcomes were summarised. RESULTS: Of the 75 studies identified, 13 investigated the combination of a rehabilitation programme with TNF inhibitor therapy, while the remainder studied rehabilitation with standard therapy (often not specified). Data from these few studies suggest that combined rehabilitation plus anti-TNF therapy is more effective in terms of symptom severity, disease activity, disability and quality-of-life indices versus biologic alone or rehabilitation with standard medical therapy, or, in non-comparative studies, compared with baseline. The most effective rehabilitation appears to be supervised or in-patient programmes with an educational component. Available data do not provide guidance on most appropriate endpoints or identify patients most likely to benefit from combination therapy. Combined, TNF inhibitor and rehabilitation therapy appear to have a synergistic effect, possibly due to increased adherence to exercise. Exercise regimes are more effective if supervised and include an education component. CONCLUSIONS: Further randomized, controlled trials comparing endpoints and investigating longer-term benefits of combining TNF inhibitors with rehabilitation in different AS subgroups are needed.