Therapies with systemic immunosuppressive and biological agents and their alteration due to the COVID-19 pandemic
| Total number of patients on systemic immunosuppression | 161 (91.5%) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of patients on biological therapies | 25 (14.2%) | |||
| Agent | Number of patients receiving treatment (ongoing) (n=176) | Number of patients in whom treatment was altered (mean reduction in dosage/day±SD)* | Number of patients developing relapse† | Mean time to develop relapse (weeks±SD) |
| Azathioprine | 61 | 12 (50±21.3 mg) | 12 | 5.8±1.7 |
| Methotrexate (oral) | 34 | 10 (5.2±3.4 mg) | 4 | 7.2±2.2 |
| Methotrexate (subcutaneous) | 37 | 4 (8.7±4.8 mg)‡ | 4 | 9±3.4 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 24 | 3 (666.7±288.7 mg) | 3 | 8.7±3.1 |
| Tacrolimus | 2 | – | 0 | – |
| Cyclosporine | 1 | – | 0 | – |
| Cyclophosphamide | 1 | – | 0 | – |
| Adalimumab | 16 | – | 0 | – |
| Tocilizumab | 3 | – | 0 | – |
| Rituximab | 2 | – | 0 | – |
*Indicates the number of patients in whom the treatment with immunosuppressive/biological agents was altered during the course of the study.
†Indicates the number of patients with a relapse due to alteration in the dose of the corresponding immunosuppressive/biological agent.
‡In one subject, treatment with subcutaneous methotrexate which was ongoing at a dose of 15 mg/week was stopped by the patient.