TY - JOUR T1 - Clinical features of rheumatic patients infected with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis SP - 1007 LP - 1013 DO - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217627 VL - 79 IS - 8 AU - Cong Ye AU - Shaozhe Cai AU - Guifen Shen AU - Hanxiong Guan AU - Liling Zhou AU - Yangyang Hu AU - Wei Tu AU - Yu Chen AU - Yikai Yu AU - Xuefen Wu AU - Yuxue Chen AU - Jixin Zhong AU - Lingli Dong Y1 - 2020/08/01 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/79/8/1007.abstract N2 - Objective The clinical features of rheumatic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have not been reported. This study aimed to describe the clinical features of COVID-19 in rheumatic patients and provide information for handling this situation in clinical practice.Methods This is a retrospective case series study. Deidentified data, including gender, age, laboratory and radiological results, symptoms, signs, and medication history, were collected from 2326 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, including 21 cases in combination with rheumatic disease, in Tongji Hospital between 13 January and 15 March 2020.Results Length of hospital stay and mortality rate were similar between rheumatic and non-rheumatic groups, while the presence of respiratory failure was more common in rheumatic cases (38% vs 10%, p<0.001). Symptoms of fever, fatigue and diarrhoea were seen in 76%, 43% and 23% of patients, respectively. There were four rheumatic patients who experienced a flare of rheumatic disease during hospital stay, with symptoms of muscle aches, back pain, joint pain or rash. While lymphocytopaenia was seen in 57% of rheumatic patients, only one patient (5%) presented with leucopenia in rheumatic cases. Rheumatic patients presented with similar radiological features of ground-glass opacity and consolidation. Patients with pre-existing interstitial lung disease showed massive fibrous stripes and crazy-paving signs at an early stage. Five rheumatic cases used hydroxychloroquine before the diagnosis of COVID-19 and none progressed to critically ill stage.Conclusions Respiratory failure was more common in rheumatic patients infected with COVID-19. Differential diagnosis between COVID-19 and a flare of rheumatic disease should be considered.Trial registration number ChiCTR2000030795. ER -