TY - JOUR T1 - Risk of Severe COVID-19 Infection in Patients With Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.200755 SP - jrheum.200755 AU - Javier Bachiller-Corral AU - Alina Boteanu AU - Maria Jesus Garcia-Villanueva AU - Carlos de la Puente AU - Marcelino Revenga AU - M. Consuelo Diaz-Miguel AU - Ana Rodriguez-Garcia AU - Jose Luis Morell-Hita AU - Marta Valero AU - Carmen Larena AU - Maria Blazquez-Cañamero AU - Carlos A. Guillen-Astete AU - Sandra Garrote AU - Cristina Sobrino AU - Carmen Medina-Quiñones AU - Mónica Vazquez-Diaz Y1 - 2021/03/15 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2021/04/27/jrheum.200755.abstract N2 - Objective To describe the cohort of patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRD) hospitalized due to SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Ramón y Cajal Hospital, and to determine the increased risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with no IRD. Methods This is a retrospective single-center observational study of patients with IRD actively monitored in the Department of Rheumatology who were hospitalized due to COVID-19. Results Forty-one (1.8%) out of 2315 patients admitted due to severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia suffered from an IRD. The admission OR for patients with IRD was 1.91 against the general population, and it was considerably higher in patients with Sjögren syndrome, vasculitis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Twenty-seven patients were receiving treatment for IRD with corticosteroids, 23 with conventional DMARDs, 12 with biologics (7 rituximab [RTX], 4 anti–tumor necrosis factor [anti-TNF], and 1 abatacept), and 1 with Janus kinase inhibitors. Ten deaths were registered among patients with IRD. A higher hospitalization rate and a higher number of deaths were observed in patients treated with RTX (OR 12.9) but not in patients treated with anti-TNF (OR 0.9). Conclusion Patients with IRD, especially autoimmune diseases and patients treated with RTX, may be at higher risk of severe pneumonia due to SARS-CoV-2 compared to the general population. More studies are needed to analyze this association further in order to help manage these patients during the pandemic. ER -