TYPE: Late Breaking Abstract
TOPIC: Chest Infections
PURPOSE: To determine if recent rituximab treatment causes worse outcomes for patients with COVID-19 infection. We specifically evaluated mechanical ventilation and mortality as primary outcomes.
METHODS: We used TriNetX, a global research network with anonymized medical information of 86 million patients in 65 large healthcare organizations. We created two patient cohorts: one consisting of patients positive for COVID-19 infection, with the second consisting of COVID-19-infected patients who had received rituximab infusion in the previous 3 months. The cohorts were then balanded for age, gender, race and ethnicity and evaluated for the outcome of “dependence on respirator” via International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 code Z99.1.
RESULTS: Patients who had received rituximab within 3 months of COVID-19 positivity were 3.63 times more likely to require treatment with a ventilator (RR 3.63, CI (2.374,5.55)). See figure 1.
Figure 1. Percentage of patients requiring a ventilator Mortality was 2.67 times more likely in recently-treated rituximab patients as well (CI 1.744,4,095), P = 0.0065.
CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with Rituximab in the 3 months prior to COVID-19 infection is associated with a significantly increased risk of requiring a ventilator and increased mortality.
CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Patients requiring rituximab treatment should take every precaution to avoid exposure to COVID-19, as they are at increased risk of requiring a ventilator and experiencing a poor outcome.
DISCLOSURE: Nothing to declare.
KEYWORD: rituximab