TY - JOUR T1 - SARS-COV-2 vaccination after stem cell transplantation for scleroderma JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis DO - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-220677 SP - annrheumdis-2021-220677 AU - Doron Rimar AU - Gleb slobodin AU - Alona Paz AU - Israel Henig AU - Tsila Zuckerman Y1 - 2021/05/27 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2021/05/28/annrheumdis-2021-220677.abstract N2 - Autologous haematological stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) for rapidly progressive severe systemic sclerosis (SSc) is the only treatment, so far, allowing long-term improvement in overall and event-free survival.1 2 The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged experts regarding decisions on AHSCT in these high-risk patients.3 Increased risk for severe COVID-19 infection in SSc is related to lung and heart involvement4 and is enhanced by high-dose immunosuppressive drugs and antithymocyte globulins used for conditioning to eliminate autoreactive cells before AHSCT and to allow reset of tolerance during the immune reconstitution period, lasting around 12 months after transplant.1 3 Several centres have stopped AHSCT activity for SSc during the pandemic for safety considerations. Others decided to continue, believing that the benefit of AHSCT is greater than … ER -