Post covid syndrome and rheumatic diseases: focus on rheumatoid arthritis (own data)

Abstract

Introduction. In modern reality postcovid syndrome (PCS) is characterized by clinical heterogeneity and multi-organ involvement, often presenting a differential diagnostic and therapeutic problem. However, in most studies of PCS, stratification of patients taking into account individual comorbid conditions was not performed. Thus, only an extremely small number of studies have been devoted to assessing the course of PCS in rheumatic diseasesPurpose. To characterize the features of the course of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as well as to conduct a comparative assessment of clinical and demographic parameters in groups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, differentiated by the presence of PCS.Materials and methods. The material of the questionnaire which contained questions regarding socio-demographic data of respondents, information on rheumatological history, comorbid diseases, data on past COVID-19, including cases of re-infection, and PCS.Results.The study included 32 adult patients (29 women, 90%) with a reliable diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. Of the 32 patients who underwent COVID-19, in 23 cases it was possible to form a judgment about the presence or absence of PCS. To study PCS, 23 patients were stratified into two groups: 11 (47.8%) patients developed PCS (Group 1) and 12 patients had COVID-19 without consequences (Group 2). Both groups were represented predominantly by women (90.9% and 91.7%, respectively). In the general group 37.5% of patients with COVID-19 required inpatient treatment. The number of symptoms associated with COVID-19 did not correlate with RA activity, however, patients with higher RA activity were more likely to report increased arthralgia as a symptom of COVID-19. 47.8% of COVID-19 survivors experienced PCS. The average age, the number of comorbid diseases and the severity of RA symptoms at the time of COVID-19 were relatively higher in the group of patients with RA and PKS. Patients with PKS also noted a higher frequency of hospitalizations and a more severe course of COVID-19.Conclusions.A quantitative assessment of the risk of developing PKS is needed, which will serve as a basis for developing a strategy aimed at prevention, timely diagnosis and treatment of this syndrome in patients with RS. To this end, further studies on larger cohorts of patients are required.