TY - JOUR T1 - COVID-19 in Patients With Connective Tissue Disease-related Interstitial Lung Disease JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 468 LP - 470 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.201064 VL - 48 IS - 3 AU - Linh Truong AU - Lila Pourzand AU - Elizabeth R. Volkmann Y1 - 2021/03/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/48/3/468.1.abstract N2 - To the Editor:Infection with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) manifests in a myriad of ways, ranging from asymptomatic disease to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Advanced age and underlying cardiovascular/pulmonary conditions appear to increase the risk for COVID-19 complications1,2. Patients with connective tissue disease–related interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) may represent a vulnerable patient population for COVID-19 given their diminished pulmonary reserve. To our knowledge, there are no prospective data reporting outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with CTD-ILD. We herein present all known cases (n = 4) of COVID-19 in patients with CTD-ILD at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) between January 2020 and August 2020.Ethics approval was not obtained for this study. The UCLA Institutional Review Board does not consider cases studies to be research as defined by federal regulations. We obtained all patients’ written informed consent to publish the material.Case 1: Systemic sclerosis–related ILD. EL is a 55-year-old Latina female with pulmonary hypertension and progressive systemic sclerosis–related (SSc) ILD receiving mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) 1 g twice per day for 5 years (Table 1). In early April 2020, the patient developed fevers, malaise, sore throat, cough, and dyspnea after exposure to her son-in-law who tested positive by nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2. She self-quarantined, discontinued MMF, and received supportive care at home. Her symptoms resolved after 3 weeks, and she required no … Address correspondence to Dr. E.R. Volkmann, 1000 Veteran Avenue, Ste 32-59, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Email: evolkmann{at}mednet.ucla.edu. ER -