Clinical Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

Background:Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease that manifests as stiffness, swelling, and pain in the joints, typical of symmetrical polyarthritis.Aim:To study the clinical impact of COVID-19 infection on rheumatoid arthritis patients in Aswan university hospital.Materials and methods:a Retrospective study was carried out in the rheumatology outpatient clinic in Aswan university hospital. 250 RA patients diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria, Diagnosis of COVID-19 will be made in the patients with clinical manifestations consistent with COVID-19 and meeting one of the following criteria: Positive PCR or Chest CT scans findings of COVID-19 pneumonia. Results :COVID-19 positivity was higher in RA patients who had DM, and also showed a statistically significant increase in DAS 28, Arthralgia, Arthritis, Nervous system and GIT affection and Chest symptoms among the infected group as p-Value <0.05.However, there were no statistical significant difference between the two groups regarding sociodemografic data, lab investigations, radiological investigations and treatment as p-Value <0.05.Conclusion: DM increases the risk of Covid-19 infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It caused reduced juxta-articular osteopenia and greater arthralgia, arthritis, nervous system, GIT, CVS, and chest symptoms with elevated platelet counts. Also, Covid-19 infection results in significant increase in disease activity (DAS 28) in RA patients.