Six month assessment of low dose rituximab in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

摘要

Aim of the workTo evaluate the 6-month treatment responses to low dose rituximab (LDR) compared to standard dose rituximab (SDR) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients whose treatments were disrupted due to the pandemic with increased disease activity and to examine the effect of LDR treatment on serum immunoglobulin (Ig) levels.Patients and methodsRecords were retrospectively analysed for 80 patients on SDR not admitted to the hospital due to fear of infection during pandemic, with increased disease activity and were resumed on LDR (500?mg intravenous RTX-infusion twice with 15?days intervals, and repeated for the second time in all patients after 6?months). Disease activity score (DAS-28) values were obtained. The Ig levels of the patients before and after rituximab treatment were calculated.ResultsThe mean age of patients was 55.1?±?13.1?years. They were 46 (57.5%) female and 34 (42.5%) male (F:M 1.4:1) with median disease duration of 13 (0.5–50) years. After the second dose of LDR, there was a significant decrease in the disease activity DAS28 (6.5?±?1.01 to 3.2?±?1.2, p?