Prognostic value of anti-IFI16 autoantibodies in pulmonary arterial hypertension and mortality in patients with systemic sclerosis / Valor pronóstico de los autoanticuerpos anti-IFI16 en la hipertensión arterial pulmonar y en la mortalidad en los pacientes con esclerodermia sistémica

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic value of anti-interferon gamma inducible protein 16 (IFI16) autoantibodies in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients negative for all tested SSc-specific autoantibodies (SSc-seronegative patients) and to evaluate the clinical significance of these autoantibodies, whether isolated or in the presence of anti-centromere autoantibodies (ACA). Methods: Overall, 58 SSc-seronegative and 66 ACA-positive patients were included in the study. All patients were tested for anti-IFI16 autoantibodies by an in-house direct ELISA. Associations between clinical parameters and anti-IFI16 autoantibodies were analysed. Results: Overall, 17.2% of SSc-seronegative and 39.4% of ACA-positive patients were positive for anti-IFI16 autoantibodies. Anti-IFI16 autoantibodies were found only in patients within the limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) subset. A positive association between anti-IFI16 positivity and isolated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was found (odds ratio [OR]=5.07; p=0.014) even after adjusting for ACA status (OR=4.99; p=0.019). Anti-IFI16-positive patients were found to have poorer overall survival than negative patients (p=0.032). Cumulative survival rates at 10, 20 and 30 years were 96.9%, 92.5% and 68.7% for anti-IFI16-positive patients vs. 98.8%, 97.0% and 90.3% for anti-IFI16-negative-patients, respectively. Anti-IFI16-positive patients also had worse overall survival than anti-IFI16-negative patients after adjusting for ACA status in the multivariate Cox analysis (hazard ratio [HR]=3.21; p=0.043). Conclusion: Anti-IFI16 autoantibodies were associated with isolated PAH and poorer overall survival. Anti-IFI16 autoantibodies could be used as a supplementary marker of lcSSc in SSc-seronegative patients and for identifying ACA-positive patients with worse clinical outcome. (AU)

Objetivos: Determinar el valor diagnóstico de los autoanticuerpos anti-interferon gamma inducible protein 16 (IFI16) en los pacientes con esclerodermia sistémica (SSc) negativos para todos los autoanticuerpos específicos de SSc (pacientes SSc seronegativos) y evaluar el significado clínico de estos autoanticuerpos, aislados o en combinación con autoanticuerpos anticentrómero (ACA). Métodos: Se incluyeron 58 pacientes SSc seronegativos y 66 pacientes ACA positivos. Todos los pacientes se testaron para los autoanticuerpos anti-IFI16 mediante un ELISA directo «in-house». Las asociaciones entre parámetros clínicos y los autoanticuerpos anti-IFI16 fueron analizadas. Resultados: En total, el 17,2% de los pacientes SSc seronegativos y el 39,4% de los pacientes ACA positivos fueron positivos para anti-IFI16. Los autoanticuerpos anti-IFI16 se detectaron solamente en los pacientes con la forma limitada cutánea de SSc (lcSSc). Se encontró una asociación entre la positividad de anti-IFI16 y la hipertensión arterial pulmonar (HAP) aislada (odds ratio [OR]: 5,07; p=0,014), incluso cuando se ajustó el análisis a la presencia o ausencia de ACA (OR: 4,99; p=0,019). Los pacientes anti-IFI16 positivos mostraron una peor supervivencia general que los pacientes negativos (p=0,032). Las ratios de supervivencia acumulada a 10, 20 y 30 años fueron respectivamente del 96,9, 92,5 y 68,7% para los pacientes anti-IFI16 positivos frente al 98,8, 97,0 y 90,3% para los anti-IFI16 negativos. Los pacientes anti-IFI16 positivos también tenían una supervivencia general menor que los pacientes anti-IFI16 negativos tras ajustar para la presencia o ausencia de ACA mediante análisis multivariado de Cox (hazard ratio [HR]: 3,21; p=0,043)... (AU)

Nailfold capillaroscopy findings of a multicentric multi-ethnic cohort of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies.

OBJECTIVES: To assess nailfold video capillaroscopic (NVC) abnormalities and their association with clinical features, myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSA), and myositis-associated antibodies (MAA) in a large multi-ethnic cohort of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM). METHODS: We recruited 155 IIM patients from three centres in Mexico, Spain, and the USA. We evaluated the clinical and laboratory features of the patients and performed semiquantitative and quantitative analyses of the NVC. Each NVC study was defined as having a normal, non-specific, early systemic sclerosis (SSc), active SSc, or late SSc pattern. Twenty-three patients had at least one follow-up NVC when disease control was achieved. Quantitative variables were expressed as medians and interquartile range (IQR) and were compared with the Kruskal-Wallis, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and the Wilcoxon test for paired medians. Associations between qualitative variables were assessed with the χ2 test. RESULTS: Most patients were women (68.3%), Hispanic (73.5%), and had dermatomyositis (DM) (61.2%). Fourteen patients (9%) had a normal NVC. A non-specific abnormality pattern was the most frequent (53.9%), and was associated with joint involvement, interstitial lung disease, Jo1 autoantibodies, anti-synthetase syndrome, and immune-mediated necrotising myopathy. The SSc pattern was observed mostly in DM and overlap myositis and was associated with cutaneous features and anti-TIF-1g autoantibodies. After treatment, there was a decrease in the capillaroscopic score, the capillary diameter, and the number of avascular areas, and an increase in capillary density and bushy capillary number. CONCLUSIONS: NVC abnormalities are related to the diagnosis, clinical features, disease activity, and autoantibodies of patients with IIM.

Prognostic value of anti-IFI16 autoantibodies in pulmonary arterial hypertension and mortality in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic value of anti-interferon gamma inducible protein 16 (IFI16) autoantibodies in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients negative for all tested SSc-specific autoantibodies (SSc-seronegative patients) and to evaluate the clinical significance of these autoantibodies, whether isolated or in the presence of anti-centromere autoantibodies (ACA). METHODS: Overall, 58 SSc-seronegative and 66 ACA-positive patients were included in the study. All patients were tested for anti-IFI16 autoantibodies by an in-house direct ELISA. Associations between clinical parameters and anti-IFI16 autoantibodies were analysed. RESULTS: Overall, 17.2% of SSc-seronegative and 39.4% of ACA-positive patients were positive for anti-IFI16 autoantibodies. Anti-IFI16 autoantibodies were found only in patients within the limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) subset. A positive association between anti-IFI16 positivity and isolated pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was found (odds ratio [OR]=5.07; p=0.014) even after adjusting for ACA status (OR=4.99; p=0.019). Anti-IFI16-positive patients were found to have poorer overall survival than negative patients (p=0.032). Cumulative survival rates at 10, 20 and 30 years were 96.9%, 92.5% and 68.7% for anti-IFI16-positive patients vs. 98.8%, 97.0% and 90.3% for anti-IFI16-negative-patients, respectively. Anti-IFI16-positive patients also had worse overall survival than anti-IFI16-negative patients after adjusting for ACA status in the multivariate Cox analysis (hazard ratio [HR]=3.21; p=0.043). CONCLUSION: Anti-IFI16 autoantibodies were associated with isolated PAH and poorer overall survival. Anti-IFI16 autoantibodies could be used as a supplementary marker of lcSSc in SSc-seronegative patients and for identifying ACA-positive patients with worse clinical outcome.

Pathogenic autoantibody internalization in myositis.

Objectives: Myositis is a heterogeneous family of autoimmune muscle diseases. As myositis autoantibodies recognize intracellular proteins, their role in disease pathogenesis has been unclear. This study aimed to determine whether myositis autoantibodies reach their autoantigen targets within muscle cells and disrupt the normal function of these proteins. Methods: Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy was used to localize antibodies and other proteins of interest in myositis muscle biopsies. Bulk RNA sequencing was used to study the transcriptomic profiles of 668 samples from patients with myositis, disease controls, and healthy controls. Antibodies from myositis patients were introduced into cultured myoblasts by electroporation and the transcriptomic profiles of the treated myoblasts were studied by bulk RNA sequencing. Results: In patients with myositis autoantibodies, antibodies accumulated inside myofibers in the same subcellular compartment as the autoantigen. Each autoantibody was associated with effects consistent with dysfunction of its autoantigen, such as the derepression of genes normally repressed by Mi2/NuRD in patients with anti-Mi2 autoantibodies, the accumulation of RNAs degraded by the nuclear RNA exosome complex in patients with anti-PM/Scl autoantibodies targeting this complex, and the accumulation of lipids within myofibers of anti-HMGCR-positive patients. Internalization of patient immunoglobulin into cultured myoblasts recapitulated the transcriptomic phenotypes observed in human disease, including the derepression of Mi2/NuRD-regulated genes in anti-Mi2-positive dermatomyositis and the increased expression of genes normally degraded by the nuclear RNA exosome complex in anti-PM/Scl-positive myositis. Conclusions: In myositis, autoantibodies are internalized into muscle fibers, disrupt the biological function of their autoantigen, and mediate the pathophysiology of the disease.

Does the Impact of COVID-19 on Patients With Systemic Sclerosis Change Over Time?

OBJECTIVE: The outcome of patients with COVID-19 improved over the pandemic, including patients with systemic rheumatic diseases. However, data on patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are lacking. This study aimed to assess the outcome of patients with both SSc and COVID-19 over several waves. METHODS: Patients with both SSc and COVID-19 who were registered in the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR) were collected between April 2020 and April 2021. Patients were assigned to waves 1, 2, or 3 depending on the date of their COVID-19 diagnosis. Primary endpoints were death, intensive care unit stay, or ventilatory support (severe outcome). Subgroup analyses of patients who were hospitalized or died were conducted. General and SSc-specific characteristics and treatment were compared over the waves. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression were applied. RESULTS: A total of 333 patients were included; 57 patients (17%) had a severe outcome, and 30 patients (9%) died. Compared to wave 1, significantly fewer patients with SSc suffered from severe COVID-19 in waves 2 and 3 (28.2% vs 9.8% and 12.7%; P < 0.001), fewer patients required hospitalization (46.7% vs 19.6% and 25.5%; P < 0.001) or ventilatory support (24.0% vs 8.7% and 10.9%; P = 0.001), and fewer patients died (15.7% vs 5.0% and 7.5%; P = 0.011). Patients were significantly younger, more often men, had less frequent arterial hypertension, and less SSc cardiac involvement over waves 1 to 3. Patients received significantly less medium to high doses of corticosteroids as they did SSc treatment. CONCLUSION: The outcome of patients with both SSc and COVID-19 improved significantly over time because of intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

Contribution of Telomere Length to Systemic Sclerosis Onset: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Although previous studies have suggested a relationship between telomere shortening and systemic sclerosis (SSc), the association between these two traits remains poorly understood. The objective of this study was to assess the causal relationship between telomere length in leukocytes (LTL) and SSc using the two-sample Mendelian randomization approach, with the genome-wide association study data for both LTL and SSc. The results of inverse-variance weighted regression (OR = 0.716 [95% CI 0.528-0.970], p = 0.031) and the Mendelian randomization pleiotropy residual sum and outlier method (OR = 0.716 [95% CI 0.563-0.911], p = 0.035) indicate an association between telomere length and SSc. Specifically, longer genetically predicted LTL is associated with a reduced risk of SSc. Sensitivity tests highlight the significant roles of the variants rs10936599 and rs2736100 annotated to the TERC and TERT genes, respectively. Our findings suggest an influence of telomere length in leukocytes on the development of SSc.

Nailfold videocapillaroscopy patterns in systemic sclerosis: implications for cutaneous subsets, disease features and prognostic value for survival.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the associations and prognostic value of scleroderma patterns by nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and cutaneous subsets. METHODS: At baseline, 1356 SSc patients from the RESCLE registry were compared according to the scleroderma pattern as Late pattern and non-Late pattern, which included Early and Active patterns. Patient characteristics, disease features, survival time and causes of death were analysed. RESULTS: Late pattern was identified in 540 (39.8%), and non-Late pattern in 816 (60.2%) patients (88% women; 987 lcSSc/251 dcSSc). Late pattern was associated to dcSSc (OR=1.96; p<0.001), interstitial lung disease (ILD) (OR=1.29; p=0.031), and scleroderma renal crisis (OR=3.46; p<0.001). Once the cutaneous subset was disregarded in an alternative analysis, both digital ulcers (DU) (OR=1.29; p<0.037) and anti-topoisomerase I antibodies (OR=1.39; p< 0.036) emerged associated with the Late pattern. By cutaneous subsets, associations with Late pattern were: (1) in dcSSc, acro-osteolysis (OR=2.13; p=0.022), and systolic pulmonary artery pressure >40 mmHg by Doppler echocardiogram (OR=2.24; p<0.001); and (2) in lcSSc, ILD (OR=1.38; p=0.028). Survival was reduced in dcSSc with Late pattern compared to non-Late pattern (p=0.049). Risk factors for SSc mortality in multivariate regression Cox analysis were age at diagnosis (HR=1.03; p<0.001), dcSSc (HR=2.48; p<0.001), DU (HR=1.38; p=0.046), ILD (HR=2.81; p<0.001), and pulmonary arterial hypertension (HR=1.99; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: SSc patients with Late pattern more frequently present dcSSc and develop more fibrotic and vascular manifestations. Advanced microangiopathy by NVC identifies dcSSc patients at risk of reduced survival due to SSc-related causes.

External clinical validation of automated software to identify structural abnormalities and microhaemorrhages in nailfold videocapillaroscopy images.

OBJECTIVES: Automated systems to analyse nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) images are needed to promptly and comprehensively characterise patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) or Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). We previously developed, and validated in-house, a deep convolutional neural network-based algorithm to classify NVC-captured images according to the presence/absence of structural abnormalities and/or microhaemorrhages. We present its external clinical validation. METHODS: A total of 1,164 NVC images of RP patients were annotated by 5 trained capillaroscopists according to the following categories: normal capillary; dilation; giant capillary; abnormal shape; tortuosity; microhaemorrhage. The images were also presented to the algorithm. Matches and discrepancies between algorithm predictions and those annotations obtained by consensus of ≥3 or ≥4 interobservers were analysed. RESULTS: Consensus among ≥3 capillaroscopists was achieved in 86.9% of images, 75.8% of which were correctly predicted by the algorithm. Consensus among ≥4 experts occurred in 52.0% of cases, in which 87.1% of the algorithm's results matched with those of the expert panel. The algorithm's positive predictive value was >80% for microhaemorrhages and unaltered, giant or abnormal capillaries. Sensitivity was >75% for dilations and tortuosities. Negative predictive value and specificity were >89% for all categories. CONCLUSIONS: This external clinical validation suggests that this algorithm is useful to assist in the diagnosis and follow-up of SSc or RP patients in a timely manner. It may also be helpful in the management of patients with any pathology presenting with microvascular changes, as the algorithm has been designed to also be useful for research aiming at extending the usage of nailfold capillaroscopy to more conditions.

Anti-U11/U12 Antibodies as a Rare but Important Biomarker in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: A Narrative Review.

Anti-nuclear (ANA) are present in approximately 90% of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients and are key biomarkers in supporting the diagnosis and determining the prognosis of this disease. In addition to the classification criteria autoantibodies for SSc [i.e., anti-centromere, anti-topoisomerase I (Scl-70), anti-RNA polymerase III], other autoantibodies have been associated with important SSc phenotypes. Among them, anti-U11/U12 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) antibodies, also known as anti-RNPC-3, were first reported in a patient with SSc, but very little is known about their association and clinical utility. The U11/U12 RNP macromolecular complex consists of several proteins involved in alternative mRNA splicing. More recent studies demonstrated associations of anti-anti-U11/U12 antibodies with SSc and severe pulmonary fibrosis as well as with moderate to severe gastrointestinal dysmotility. Lastly, anti-U11/U12 autoantibodies have been strongly associated with malignancy in SSc patients. Here, we aimed to summarize the knowledge of anti-U11/U12/RNPC-3 antibodies in SSc, including their seroclinical associations in a narrative literature review.

Clinico-pathological phenotypes of systemic sclerosis-associated myopathy: analysis of a large multicentre cohort.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to analyse the clinico-serological and histological phenotypes of patients with SSc with associated myopathy. METHODS: From November 2002 to September 2020, 52 patients with SSc underwent a muscle biopsy for suspected myopathy. We established two subgroups according to the histological findings based on the presence of isolated fibrosis or fibrosis together with significant inflammation. These patterns were designated as fibrosing and inflammatory, respectively. Clinical data, antibody profile, electrophysiologic studies, muscle biopsy findings and data regarding treatment, mortality and survival were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Fourteen biopsies had a fibrosing pattern, whereas 26 showed an inflammatory pattern that could be classified (according to the predominant pattern) into DM (n = 7), necrotizing myopathy (n = 4) and non-specific myositis (n = 15). Additionally, 12 muscle biopsies were reported as neurogenic atrophy (n = 2), or normal muscle or minimal changes (n = 10). Compared with the inflammatory group, SSc patients with the fibrosing pattern presented a higher prevalence of ischaemic heart disease (38.5% vs 3.8%, P = 0.011), conduction abnormalities or arrhythmias (61.5% vs 26.9%, P = 0.036), anti-topo I antibodies (42.9% vs 11.5%, P = 0.044), greater median ESR (53.5 mm/h vs 32.5 mm/h, P = 0.013), with poor response to treatment and a higher mortality (42.9% vs 3.8%, P = 0.004) and lower cumulative survival (P = 0.035). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with SSc-associated myopathy require a comprehensive approach that encompasses clinical, serological and histopathological aspects, given their outcome predictive capacity. At least two different phenotypes can be drawn, considering clinico-pathological features. Significant differences are delineated between both a fibrotic and an inflammatory phenotype.

Use of chronic medications and risk of severe death due to COVID-19 in hospitalised patients.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the potential association between chronic exposure to medication and death related to COVID-19. METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study that included all patients hospitalised due to COVID-19 from 11 March to 4 June 2020 in our centre. Chronic patient medication was classified by the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification; demographic and clinical data were analysed. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios (aOR) of death for each drug exposure; each aOR represents an independent model adjusted by clinical factors related to COVID-19 mortality. RESULTS: The study included 978 patients with a mean (SD) age of 64.5 (17.7) years who were predominantly male (531, 54.3%). Of all 978 patients, 182 (18.61%) died during the follow-up of the study. The most common Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was 0, 4.2% were smokers, 16.7% were obese, 47.4% had hypertension, and 19.4% were diabetic. Most patients (70.8%) were prescribed at least one treatment, 32.5% used >5 treatments, and 8.6% >10. Our data suggest that COVID-19 hospitalised patients taking trimethoprim and analogues, leukotriene receptor antagonists, calcineurin inhibitors, aldosterone antagonists, selective immunosuppressants, propulsives, insulins and analogues, and benzodiazepine derivatives have a higher risk of death. CONCLUSIONS: This study investigated the association between chronic exposure to drugs and the risk of death in COVID-19 patients. Our results have shed some light on the impact of chronic drug exposure on the risk of severe COVID-19; however, further research is needed to increase the understanding about its relevance.

Standardized incidence ratios and risk factors for cancer in patients with systemic sclerosis: Data from the Spanish Scleroderma Registry (RESCLE).

AIM: Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are at increased risk of cancer, a growing cause of non-SSc-related death among these patients. We analyzed the increased cancer risk among Spanish patients with SSc using standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) and identified independent cancer risk factors in this population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Spanish Scleroderma Registry data were analyzed to determine the demographic characteristics of patients with SSc, and logistic regression was used to identify cancer risk factors. SIRs with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) relative to the general Spanish population were calculated. RESULTS: Of 1930 patients with SSc, 206 had cancer, most commonly breast, lung, hematological, and colorectal cancers. Patients with SSc had increased risks of overall cancer (SIR 1.48, 95% CI 1.36-1.60; P < 0.001), and of lung (SIR 2.22, 95% CI 1.77-2.73; P < 0.001), breast (SIR 1.31, 95% CI 1.10-1.54; P = 0.003), and hematological (SIR 2.03, 95% CI 1.52-2.62; P < 0.001) cancers. Cancer was associated with older age at SSc onset (odds ratio [OR] 1.22, 95% CI 1.01-1.03; P < 0.001), the presence of primary biliary cholangitis (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.18-4.68; P = 0.015) and forced vital capacity <70% (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.24-2.70; P = 0.002). The presence of anticentromere antibodies lowered the risk of cancer (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45-0.97; P = 0.036). CONCLUSIONS: Spanish patients with SSc had an increased cancer risk compared with the general population. Some characteristics, including specific autoantibodies, may be related to this increased risk.

Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in systemic sclerosis: Clinical, immunological and survival differences in the Spanish RESCLE registry.

OBJECTIVES: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) remains poorly studied in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). To determine the prevalence and to define factors associated with LVDD and survival in a large cohort of patients with SSc. METHODS: An observational study was conducted with data from the multicentre Spanish Scleroderma Registry (RESCLE) to identify factors associated with LVDD and estimate survival. RESULTS: Out of 1517 patients, 319 (21.0%) had LVDD. The subset of sine scleroderma SSc was associated to LVDD (14.7% vs. 10.6%, p =0.048), whilst diffuse cutaneous SSc was more prevalent in non-LVDD (16.0 % vs. 21.2%, p =0.041). Multivariable analysis identified that LVDD was associated with older age at diagnosis of SSc (OR 1.05; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.06), longer time from diagnosis (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.06), presence of telangiectasia (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.08 to 1.88), treatment with calcium channel blockers (CCB) (OR 1.51; 95% CI 1.16 to 1.96), and inversely related to angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) use (OR 0.59; 95% CI 0.44 to 0.80). SSc patients with LVDD had increased mortality (23.8 vs. 17.4%, p =0.010) and shortened survival from the first SSc symptom (p =0.040), even though it was not found to be an independent risk factor for death. CONCLUSIONS: LVDD is relatively common in SSc patients, and it is associated with worst prognosis, older age, longer time from diagnosis of SSc, presence of telangiectasia and vasodilator treatment.

Early outcomes in adults hospitalized with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection receiving tocilizumab.

Background: Modulation of the immune system to prevent lung injury is being widely used against the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The primary endpoint was mortality at 7 days after tocilizumab administration. Secondary endpoints were admission to the intensive care unit, development of ARDS and respiratory insufficiency among others. Methods: We report the preliminary results from the Vall d'Hebron cohort study at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, in Barcelona (Spain), including all consecutive patients who had a confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and who were treated with tocilizumab until March 25th. Results: 82 patients with COVID-19 received at least one dose of tocilizumab. The mean (± SD) age was 59.1 (19.8) years, 63% were male, 22% were of non-Spanish ancestry, and the median (IQR) age-adjusted Charlson index at baseline was 3 (1-4) points. Respiratory failure and ARDS developed in 62 (75.6%) and 45 (54.9%) patients, respectively. Median time from symptom onset to ARDS development was 8 (5-11) days. Mortality at 7 days was 26.8%. Hazard ratio for mortality was 3.3; 95% CI, 1.3-8.5 (age-adjusted hazard ratio for mortality 2.1; 95% CI, 0.8-5.8) if tocilizumab was administered after the onset of ARDS. Conclusion: Early administration of tocilizumab in patients needing oxygen supplementation may be critical to patient recovery. Our preliminary data could inform bedside decisions until more data regarding the precise timing in of initiation of the treatment with tocilizumab.

Antecedentes: Los tratamientos inmunomoduladores para la prevención del daño pulmonar están siendo ampliamente estudiados contra la COVID-19. El objetivo primario es evaluar la mortalidad a los 7 días después de la administración de tocilizumab. El objetivo secundario es el ingreso en UCI, el desarrollo de distrés respiratorio agudo e insuficiencia respiratoria aguda entre otros. Métodos: Informamos sobre los resultados preliminares de la cohorte del Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebron en Barcelona (España), que incluye todos los pacientes consecutivos con infección confirmada por SARS-CoV-2 y que recibieron tratamiento con tocilizumab hasta el 25 de marzo 2020. Resultados: Ochenta y dos pacientes con COVID-19 recibieron al menos una dosis de tocilizumab. La edad media (±DE) fue de 59,1 (±19,8) años, el 63% eran hombres, 22% correspondía a paciente nacidos fuera de España, y la mediana (RIC) del índice de Charlson ajustado por edad en el momento basal fue de 3 (1-4) puntos. Sesenta y dos pacientes (75,6%) y 45 pacientes (54,9%) desarrollaron insuficiencia respiratoria y distrés respiratorio agudo respectivamente. La mediana de tiempo desde el inicio de los síntomas hasta el desarrollo de ditrés fue de 8 días (5-11). La mortalidad a los 7 días fue del 26,8% La hazard ratio de mortalidad fue del 3,3; IC 95% 1,3-8,5 (la hazard ratio de mortalidad ajustada por edad fue de 2,1; IC 95% 0,8-5,8) si el tocilizumab se administraba después del inicio del distrés respiratorio. Conclusión: La administración precoz de tocilizumab en pacientes con suplementos de oxígeno podría ser crítica para la recuperación de los pacientes. Nuestros datos podrían ayudar a tomar decisiones clínicas hasta que se disponga de más información sobre el momento adecuado para iniciar el tratamiento con tocilizumab.

Impact of interstitial lung disease on the survival of systemic sclerosis with pulmonary arterial hypertension.

To assess severity markers and outcomes of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) with or without pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH-SSc/non-PAH-SSc), and the impact of interstitial lung disease (ILD) on PAH-SSc. Non-PAH-SSc patients from the Spanish SSc registry and PAH-SSc patients from the Spanish PAH registry were included. A total of 364 PAH-SSc and 1589 non-PAH-SSc patients were included. PAH-SSc patients had worse NYHA-functional class (NYHA-FC), worse forced vital capacity (FVC) (81.2 ± 20.6% vs 93.6 ± 20.6%, P < 0.001), worse tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE) (17.4 ± 5.2 mm vs 19.9 ± 6.7 mm, P < 0.001), higher incidence of pericardial effusion (30% vs 5.2%, P < 0.001) and similar prevalence of ILD (41.8% vs. 44.9%). In individuals with PAH-SSc, ILD was associated with worse hemodynamics and pulmonary function tests (PFT). Up-front combination therapy was used in 59.8% and 61.7% of patients with and without ILD, respectively. Five-year transplant-free survival rate was 41.1% in PAH-SSc patients and 93.9% in non-PAH-SSc patients (P < 0.001). Global survival of PAH-SSc patients was not affected by ILD regardless its severity. The multivariate survival analysis in PAH-SSc patients confirmed age at diagnosis, worse NYHA-FC, increased PVR, reduced DLCO, and lower management with up-front combination therapy as major risk factors. In conclusion, in PAH-SSc cohort risk of death was greatly increased by clinical, PFT, and hemodynamic factors, whereas it was decreased by up-front combination therapy. Concomitant ILD worsened hemodynamics and PFT in PAH-SSc but not survival regardless of FVC impairment.

The challenge of comprehensive nailfold videocapillaroscopy practice: a further contribution.

OBJECTIVES: Although classification systems and scores for capillaroscopy interpretation have been published, there is a lack of homogenization for the procedure, especially in the way and place the images are taken, the counting of the capillaries and the measuring of their size. Our objective is to provide a deep learning-based software to obtain objective and exhaustive data for the whole nailfold without increasing the time or effort needed to do the examination, or requiring expensive equipment. METHODS: An automated software to count nailfold capillaries has been designed, through an exploratory image dataset of 2,713 images with 18,000 measurements of 3 different types. Subsequently, application rules have been created to detect the morphology of nailfold videocapillaroscopy images, through a training set of images. The software reliability has been evaluated with standard metrics used in the machine learning field for object detection tasks, comparing automatic and manual counting on the same NVC images. RESULTS: A mean average precision (mAP) of 0.473 is achieved for detecting and classifying capillaries and haemorrhages by their shape, and a mAP of 0.515 is achieved for detecting and classifying capillaries by their size. A precision of 83.84% and a recall of 92.44% in the identification of capillaries was estimated. CONCLUSIONS: Deep learning is a useful tool in nailfold videocapillaroscopy that allows to analyse objectively and homogeneously images taken with multiple devices. It should make the assessment of the capillary morphology in nailfold video capillaroscopy easier, quicker, more complete and accessible to everyone.