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Incidence and Risk Factors of COVID‑19 In Patients With Vasculitis in the First Year of the Pandemic: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

23 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2021

See all articles by Salome Kristensen

Salome Kristensen

Aalborg University Hospital - Department of Rheumatology

René Cordtz

Aalborg University Hospital

Kirsten Duch

Aalborg University Hospital

Jesper Lindhardsen

University of Copenhagen - Rigshospitalet

Christian Torp-Pedersen

Aalborg University, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital & Clinical Institute, Department of Cardiology; Nordsjællands Hospital - Department of Cardiology

Lene Dreyer

Aalborg University

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Abstract

Background: To estimate the incidence of COVID-19 hospitalisation in patients with vasculitis, and to evaluate the impact of glucocorticoid treatment on the outcome between March 2020 and February 2021.

Methods: With use of the Danish nationwide registers, a cohort of patients with large (LVV) and small vessel vasculitis (SVV), respectively, and general population controls (GPCs) matched on age and gender was established. Hazard ratios (HR) for COVID-19 hospitalisation was estimated. National COVID-19 surveillance data was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) of having had a positive SARS-CoV2 PCR test. Lastly, a nested case-control design and conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the impact of glucocorticoids on the risk of hospitalisation.

Findings: Patients with SVV (n=1090) had an increased incidence of COVID-19 hospitalisation compared with GPCs (comorbidity-adjusted HR 2·73; 95% CI 1·64-4·55), whereas no increased risk was seen in patients with LVV. Patients with vasculitis had similar likelihoods of having had a positive PCR test as GPCs. Glucocorticoids did not increase the HR of hospitalisation among patients with LVV or SVV.

Interpretation: Patients with SVV were more likely to be admitted with COVID-19 than the GPCs. The impact of glucocorticoid treatment on the risk of hospitalisation needs further investigation.

Funding Information: The study was sponsored by Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark. The funder had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Declaration of Interests: RLC, JL and SK have no disclosures or conflicts of interests. CTP has received grants for studies from Bayer and Novo Nordisk not relevant to the current study. LD has received research grant/research support from BMS, and speakers bureau from EliLilly and Galderma.

Ethics Approval Statement: According to Danish legislation, no ethics approval is needed for register-based studies. The study has been approved by the Data Protection Committee of Northern Jutland, Denmark (2020-032).

Keywords: Giant cell arteritis; systemic vasculitis; large vessel vasculitis; small vessel vasculitis; COVID-19; virus; glucocorticoids

Suggested Citation

Kristensen, Salome and Cordtz, René and Duch, Kirsten and Lindhardsen, Jesper and Torp-Pedersen, Christian and Dreyer, Lene, Incidence and Risk Factors of COVID‑19 In Patients With Vasculitis in the First Year of the Pandemic: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study (8/26/2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3912795 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3912795

Salome Kristensen (Contact Author)

Aalborg University Hospital - Department of Rheumatology ( email )

Aalborg
Denmark

René Cordtz

Aalborg University Hospital

Denmark

Kirsten Duch

Aalborg University Hospital

Denmark

Jesper Lindhardsen

University of Copenhagen - Rigshospitalet

Copenhagen
Denmark

Christian Torp-Pedersen

Aalborg University, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University Hospital & Clinical Institute, Department of Cardiology ( email )

Nordsjællands Hospital - Department of Cardiology ( email )

Denmark

Lene Dreyer

Aalborg University

Fredrik Bajers Vej 7E
Aalborg, DK-9220
Denmark