Clinical rheumatology
-
Clinical rheumatology · Jul 2020
EditorialThe systemic sclerosis patient in the COVID-19 era: the challenging crossroad between immunosuppression, differential diagnosis and long-term psychological distress.
COVID-19 is a world health emergency which may inevitably affect the management of a complex autoimmune disease such as systemic sclerosis (SSc). Several SSc patients are frail and, in this pandemic, need a careful protection. The COVID-19 infection might complicate the clinical scenario of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in SSc because it determines a severe pneumonia characterized by radiological features similar to SSc-ILD. ⋯ For these reasons, the rheumatologist in daily clinical practice should carefully differentiate the possible COVID-19 infection in order to optimize the patient management. Therefore, the challenge in everyday life will be to achieve in due time the differential diagnosis as well as the long-term psychological impact. Key Points• SSc patients should be encouraged to continue their chronic therapy; in case of immunosuppressive therapy it must be discontinued for safety in case of COVID-19 infection.• Psychological support must be guaranteed to every SSc patients.• COVID-19 pneuminia is hard to distinguish from an interstitial lung disease due to SSc lung involvment.• Data sharing is fundamental for an optimal managment of SSc patients during COVID-19 pandemia.
-
Clinical rheumatology · Jun 2020
Physician-patient alignment in satisfaction with psoriatic arthritis treatment in Latin America.
Physician-patient misalignment may exist in real-life clinical practice. We aimed to assess physician and patient treatment satisfaction levels and associated degree of misalignment in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). ⋯ High levels of treatment satisfaction and alignment were observed among PsA patients and their physicians in Latin America. Patients in this study nevertheless experienced a considerable clinical and quality-of-life burden, especially the misaligned patients. Addressing misalignment may lead to improved PsA disease control.Key points• High treatment satisfaction was observed among PsA patients and their treating physicians in Latin America.• Patients experienced a considerable clinical and quality-of-life burden, especially the misaligned patients.• One-fifth of physician-patient pairs were misaligned regarding satisfaction.• Understanding and addressing misalignment may improve outcomes in this patient population.