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Introduction: Patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD) who receive intravenous therapy requiring hospitalization are likely to be more affected than those with receiving oral therapy during COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to investigate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on adherence to treatment in patients with CIRD receiving intravenous treatments.

Copyright of Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background. Inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRDs) are often associated with multiple comorbidities. Managing comorbidities now seen as important as management of primary IRDs. The aim of this study was to analyse the profiles and prevalence of comorbidities in patients with IRDs and also to highlight the critical need for comprehensive and routine screening for comorbidities. Methods. This study was a retrospective single‐center study conducted between 2019 and 2023. IRDs were classified according to the following categories: rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, connective tissue diseases, autoinflammatory diseases, Behçet's disease, large vessel vasculitis (LVV), small vessel vasculitis (SVV), and crystal deposition diseases (CDD). The demographic characteristics and comorbidities (including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, obesity, coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, asthma, osteoporosis, thyroid diseases, demyelinating diseases, depression, and malignancies) were obtained from the electronic patient files. Results. The study included 10 417 patients with IRDs (mean age 50.9 ± 14.5 years; 66.8% female). The five most prevalent comorbidities were hypertension (34.8%), obesity (29.1%), diabetes mellitus (14.1%), hyperlipidemia (12.1%), and osteoporosis (9.2%). The Poisson regression analysis demonstrated a significant association between the total number of comorbidities and CDD, LVV, and SVV. The most prevalent comorbidities were cardiovascular risk factors. Furthermore, the prevalence of osteoporosis was high in LVV, and the prevalence of chronic kidney disease and asthma was high in SVV. Conclusion. Our study not only presents observational data but also highlights the critical need for comprehensive and routine screening for comorbidities in patients with rheumatic diseases. We found that CDD followed by LVV and SVV were identified as the rheumatic conditions most associated with comorbidities, and these diseases are most commonly accompanied by cardiovascular risk factors. Additionally, our findings suggest that patients with rheumatological conditions may be underscreened, leading to potential underdiagnosis of comorbidities such as hyperlipidemia, osteoporosis, and possibly malignancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to investigate coronavirus diease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes in patients with amyloid A protein (AA) amyloidosis secondary to rheumatic diseases and discuss factors associated with disease course. Methods: A retrospective cohort was formed from adult patients with a diagnosis of AA amyloidosis. In patients with a positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, rates of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission and mortality due to COVID-19 were collected from medical records. Data regarding to demographics, comorbidities, laboratory tests, medical treatments, adherence to previous treatments during COVID-19 and treatment administered for COVID-19 were collected from hospital databases and patient reviews. Results: In 96 patients with AA amyloidosis, 16 had COVID-19 with a positive PCR. Ten (62.5%) patients were hospitalized, 2 (12.5%) were admitted to ICU, 1 (6.25%) was died. Hospitalized patients tended to be older. Comorbidities seemed to be more frequent in hospitalized patients. None of the patients had rapid progression to end-stage renal disease post-COVID-19. Seven patients had pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 proteinuria levels. Three had notable increase in proteinuria after COVID-19 in 2 of which amyloidosis treatment was revised accordingly. Conclusion: Despite high rates of hospitalization in AA amyloidosis patients, mortality was observed only in 1 patient. Progression of proteinuria requiring treatment adjustment may be an issue in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) frequency and clinical characteristics among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or spondyloarthritis (SpA) who receive biological treatments. Patients and methods: The observational study was conducted with patients from the TReasure database, a web-based prospective observational registry collecting data from 17 centers across Türkiye, between December 2017 and June 2021. From this database, 3,147 RA patients (2,502 males, 645 females; median age 56 years; range, 44 to 64 years) and 6,071 SpA patients (2,709 males, 3,362 females; median age 43 years; range, 36 to 52 years) were analyzed in terms of viral hepatitis, patient characteristics, and treatments used. Results: The screening rate for HBV was 97% in RA and 94.2% in SpA patients. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity rates were 2.6% and 2%, hepatitis B surface antibody positivity rates were 32.3% and 34%, hepatitis B core antibody positivity rates were 20.3% and 12.5%, HBV DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) positivity rates were 3.5% and 12.5%, and antibody against HCV positivity rates were 0.8% and 0.3% in RA and SpA patients, respectively. The HBsAg-positive patients were older and had more comorbidities, including hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. In addition, rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity was more common in HBsAg-positive cases. The most frequently prescribed biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were adalimumab (28.5%), etanercept (27%), tofacitinib (23.4%), and tocilizumab (21.5%) in the RA group and adalimumab (48.1%), etanercept (31.4%), infliximab (22.6%), and certolizumab (21.1%) in the SpA group. Hepatitis B reactivation was observed in one RA patient during treatment, who received rituximab and prophylaxis with tenofovir. Conclusion: The epidemiological characteristics of patients with rheumatic diseases and viral hepatitis are essential for effective patient management. This study provided the most recent epidemiological characteristics from the prospective TReasure database, one of the comprehensive registries in rheumatology practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to biological agents, little is known about the impact of sulfasalazine therapy on COVID-19 outcomes in patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpA). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the COVID-19 severity in AxSpAs receiving sulfasalazine and biologic-agent. A total of 219 SARS-CoV-2 positive AxSpA patients were retrospectively analyzed. COVID-19 pneumonia, hospitalization rate, and length of stay were used to determine COVID-19 severity. AxSpA patients were mainly grouped and compared as sulfasalazine and non-sulfasalazine. Afterward, we excluded no-treatment patients to reveal the drug's effects more clearly and regrouped AxSpA patients as sulfasalazine-monotherapy (34.3%), biologic-monotherapy (33.7%), and sulfasalazine + biologic (7.3%). Fifty-nine percent of the patients were male and the mean age was 45.0 years. Peripheral arthritis was 35% and uveitis 15%. In total, 41.5% of them have received sulfasalazine and 41.0% biologic agents, and the remaining patients with no AxSpA-specific treatment. In the first comparison, the sulfasalazine group had a higher age, more frequent COVID-19 pneumonia, hospitalization, and longer hospitalization than a non-sulfasalazine group. In the pairwise comparison of 3 treatment groups, the demographic and clinical features, the hospitalization rate and the length of hospital stay were similar but the sulfasalazine-monotherapy group had a higher frequency of COVID-19 pneumonia than the biologic-monotherapy group (23% vs. 7%, p = 0.008). Our results imply sulfasalazine may be related to more severe COVID-19 in AxSpA patients. These patients should be followed more carefully in the presence of COVID-19, regardless of reasons such as age, comorbidity, and extra-axial disease, and consideration of discontinuing sulfasalazine maybe even thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moreover, the frequency of AA amyloidosis of unknown aetiology has been known to increase and may exceed that of AA amyloidosis secondary to rheumatoid arthritis, the most common known cause in the Western world [[2]]. Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is best managed by elimination of the underlying cause. Given its efficacy in inflammatory rheumatic diseases potentially complicated by amyloidosis [[5]] and in those already complicated by amyloidosis [[6]], IL-1 inhibition with anakinra was reported to be successful in AA amyloidosis of unknown aetiology by Lane I et al i . Table 1: Baseline and follow-up characteristics of four patients with AA amyloidosis of unknown aetiology under treatment with IL-1 inhibitors. [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Journal of Turkish Society for Rheumatology is the property of Galenos Yayinevi Tic. LTD. STI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this study is to evaluate development of side effects, thrombotic or obstetric complications in our antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patient group, after vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). A cohort was formed from patients who have previously been followed up with a diagnosis of APS. The patients of the cohort were evaluated retrospectively to find out if they were vaccinated with CoronaVac and/or BNT162b2 vaccines which are being used in our country. To evaluate the side effects seen after the vaccination, the information was collected by the patients in their outpatient appointments or making a phone call. Thirty‐five APS patients who had received at least 1 dose of any of the COVID‐19 vaccines were included in the study. Median (min–max) number of vaccine doses per patient was 2 (1–3). Eleven patients had a booster dose after primary vaccination. Twenty patients were ever vaccinated with BNT162b2 and 18 with CoronaVac. Among BNT162b2 recipients, 9 (45.0%) and among CoronaVac recipients 15 (42.9%) reported an adverse event after a vaccine administration. The most common adverse events were myalgia and malaise after any dose of both vaccines. No vaccine‐related new thrombotic events or APS flares were observed. Our results were comparable with those reported in the literature. Comprehensive large‐scale studies are needed for more accurate results on the evaluation of side effects after COVID‐19 vaccination in APS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]