Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34862310›Full record

ArticleRMD open2021

Incidence of COVID-19 in patients treated with infliximab compared with patients treated with rituximab.

Cathy Mireille Melong Pianta Taleng, Kim Lauper, Benoit Gilbert, Tim Cunningham, Romain Guemara, Laure Brulhart, Diana Dan, Delphine Courvoisier, Axel Finckh

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in RMD open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Cathy Mireille Melong Pianta TalengDivison of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneve, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-1352-8504
Kim LauperDivison of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneve, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-4315-9009
Benoit GilbertDivison of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneve, Switzerland.
Tim CunninghamRheumatology, Private Practice, Geneva, Switzerland.
Romain GuemaraRheumatology, Network Hospital Neuchâtel, Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Laure BrulhartRheumatology, Network Hospital Neuchâtel, Neuchatel, Switzerland.
Diana DanDivision of Rheumatology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Delphine CourvoisierDivison of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneve, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-1956-2607
Axel FinckhDivison of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneve, Switzerland axel.finckh@hcuge.ch.ORCID 0000-0002-1210-4347
University of Geneva · CHHospital Neuchâtel · CHUniversity of Lausanne · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine whether patients with inflammatory autoimmune diseases treated with rituximab (RTX) have more severe forms of COVID-19 compared with patients treated with anticytokine therapies, such as Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF) inhibitors.

methodsWe included all patients who were on either RTX or infliximab (IFX) in two Swiss cantons during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected self-reported symptoms compatible with COVID-19, PCR-confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19 and the evolution of COVID-19 infections. We computed the raw and propensity score-adjusted incidence of COVID-19 by treatment group.

results190 patients were enrolled, of whom 121 (64%) were in the RTX group and 69 (36%) were in the IFX group. Twenty-one patients (11%) reported symptoms compatible with COVID-19 (RTX: 10, IFX: 11, p=0.14). Among patients with COVID-19 symptoms, four developed severe forms of the disease, with life-threatening pulmonary manifestations requiring intensive mechanical ventilation (RTX: 4 of 10, IFX: 0 of 11, Fisher's exact test p=0.04). The incidence rate of COVID-19 symptoms was 0.73 (95% CI 0.39 to 1.37) cases per 1000 patient-days on RTX vs 1.52 (95% CI 0.82 to 2.85) cases per 1000 patient-days on IFX (crude p=0.10, adjusted p=0.07). The incidence rate of severe COVID-19 was 0.28 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.7.2) cases per 1000 patient-days on RTX compared with null on IFX (95% CI 0.0 to 0.44) (p=0.13). A replication in an independent validation cohort confirmed these findings, with consistent results in the Swiss Clinical Quality Management registry.

conclusionWhile the incidence of symptoms compatible with COVID-19 was overall similar in patients receiving RTX or IFX, the incidence of severe COVID-19 tended to be higher in the RTX group.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidCOVID-19HumansIncidenceInfliximabPandemicsRituximabSARS-CoV-2Antirheumatic AgentsInfliximabRituximabCOVID-19epidemiologyinfliximabrituximab

Identifiers

PMID34862310
PMCPMC8646967
OpenAlexW3216607821

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.