Covid-19 Course in Connective Tissue Disease-Related Interstitial Lung Disease Patients

Introduction: Coronovirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection has spread rapidly, causing a worldwide pandemic. Although a good clinical course ranging from asymptomatic carriage to a simple flu infection is encountered in most patients, pneumonia and even multi-organ failure and mortality can be seen in some patients. In studies on which patients are more associated with a worse prognosis, it has been associated with increased mortality in patients with lung disease. In this study, it was aimed to show the mortality rate and possible prognostic factors associated with COVID-19 in patients with interstitial lung disease due to connective tissue disease (CTD-ILD). Materials and Methods: In a tertiary referral centre, patients with previously diagnosed CTD-ILD were retrospectively reviewed. Between 1st April 2020 to 1st April 2021 patient data related to ILD disease, COVID-19 infection and mortality were obtained from electronic records retrospectively. The primary outcome was death on day 30 of COVID-19 infection Results: There were 271patients diagnosed with CTD-ILD. 74 patients had COVID-19 infection, which was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction. 29 patients were dead during the followed-up period of whom 13 patients had COVID-19 infection-related mortality (17.5% vs 8.1%, p:0.045). COVID infection related to mortality was more frequently seen in patients with decreased forced vital capacity , smoking history, extended disease and rheumatoid arthritis. On multivariate regression analysis, only decreased forced vital capacity were related to poor outcomes. Conclusion : COVID-19 infection is related to increased risk of mortality in CTD-ILD patients. Decreased forced vital capacity is a poor prognostic risk factor