COVID-19 with rheumatic diseases: a report of 5 cases

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the result of an infection with the new virus, SARS-CoV-2, is rapidly spreading worldwide. It is largely unknown whether the occurrence of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic immune diseases has some specific manifestations, or makes them more prone to rapidly progress into severe COVID-19. In this case report, we describe the clinical features of 5 rheumatic immune disease patients with the concomitant presence of COVID-19. Amongst these patients, 4 had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 1 had systemic sclerosis (SSc). Two patients had a history of close contact with a COVID-19 patient. The age of the patients ranged between 51 and 79  years. Fever (80%), cough (80%), dyspnea (40%), and fatigue (20%) were the most common presenting symptoms. Laboratory investigations revealed leukopenia and lymphopenia in 2 patients. In all the patients, chest computerized tomography (CT) revealed patchy ground glass opacities in the lungs. Duri ng the hospital stay, the condition of two patients remained the same (i.e., mild COVID-19), two patients progressed to the severe COVID-19, and one patient worsened to the critically ill COVID-19. These patients were treated with antiviral agents for COVID-19, antibiotics for secondary bacterial in fections, and immunomodulatory agents for rheumatic immune diseases. All the patients responded well, were cured of COVID-19, and subsequently discharged.
Source: Clinical Rheumatology - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: research