Monitoring Of Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus During The Covid-19 Outbreak

The emergence and spread of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the resulting COVID-19 disease, have had a tremendous impact on public health and the world economy. Thus far, COVID-19 does not appear to be more severe in immunocompromised patients, but relevant data are scarce.1 Conversely to what was initially thought, patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are also involved.2 3 In an article by Mathian et al ,4 some severe forms of COVID-19 infection were described in 17 patients with SLE, particularly in those with renal failure or obesity. This greater susceptibility might arise from dysregulation of ACE2 and interferon expression.5 At the same time, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the reference standard-of-care treatment for SLE, has emerged as a potential treatment option for COVID-19. HCQ has shown the potential to inhibit the viral replication in vitro, and several clinical trials are under way to evaluate its clinical efficacy.6 Building on the report of Mathian et al ,4 we would like to share our experience from another French university centre to further the discussion of SLE patient outcomes during the COVID-19 outbreak. Here we aim to address COVID-19 disease progression …