[The impact of COVID-19 in a cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis].

Background: COVID-19 brought with it unknowns related to systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To know the clinical evolution and prognosis of COVID-19 in a cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis.

Methods: During the pandemic, we had digital contact with a cohort of 197 patients with SSc. If they had any condition that met the suspected definition of COVID-19, they underwent polymerase chain reaction testing for SARS-CoV-2; they were treated on an outpatient or hospital basis without interfering with their treatment. They followed their evolution every 24 hours until they became asymptomatic or died.

Results: Thirteen patients (6.6%), nine diffuse cutaneous (dcSSc), and four limited cutaneous (lcSSc) developed COVID-19 during nine months of follow-up. The immunosuppressants used at the time of the disease were: mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate, and prednisone, in low doses. Seven patients had interstitial lung disease (ILD). The main symptoms were chest pain, cough, dyspnea, dysgeusia, and anosmia, 1 with mild symptoms without pneumonia, 11 with mild pneumonia, and one with severe pneumonia that required hospital management. Only one (7.7%) presented severe pneumonia, was hospitalized, and died.

Conclusions: COVID-19 disease in patients with SSc can be overcome in most cases, even when they are ILD and were using immunosuppressants at the time of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.