International journal of rheumatic diseases
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Case Reports Multicenter Study
Tocilizumab for severe COVID-19 pneumonia: Case series of 5 Australian patients.
To describe the first Australian cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) disease (COVID-19) pneumonia treated with the interleukin-6 receptor antagonist tocilizumab. ⋯ Tocilizumab use was associated with favorable clinical outcome in our patients. We recommend tocilizumab be included in randomized controlled trials of treatment for patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia, and be considered for compassionate use in such patients pending the results of these trials.
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the biggest pandemic of our lifetime to date. No effective treatment is yet in sight for this catastrophic illness. Several antiviral agents and vaccines are in clinical trials, and drug repurposings as immediate and alternative choices are also under consideration. ⋯ Recent controversies regarding efficacy of HCQ in management of COVID-19 warrant more studies in that direction. Autoantibodies were also reported in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) as well as in COVID-19. Rheumatologists need to wait and see whether SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers development of autoimmunity in patients with COVID-19 infection in the long run.
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Observational Study
Value of labial salivary gland histopathology for diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome in patients with anti-centromere antibody positivity.
Although anti-centromere antibody (ACA)+ Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is considered a subtype of SS, it was not included in the recent American College of Rheumatology/ European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) SS classification criteria. ACA+ patients without anti-SS-A/Ro antibodies require salivary gland histopathology to fulfill the ACR/EULAR criteria for diagnosis of SS. We reviewed salivary gland histology among ACA+ patients referred for the diagnosis of SS using the ACR/EULAR and Japanese criteria which does not require biopsy. ⋯ In ACA+/anti-SS-A/Ro- antibody patients, agreement between ACR/EULAR and Japanese criteria sets was excellent. For easily classifying ACA+ patients as SS cases, salivary gland biopsy should be performed in ACA+ patients with dry symptoms to identify ACA+ patients.