Autoimmune Thyroid Disease in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome: Real-Life Screening Practice and Clinical Outcomes

BACKGROUND

Notwithstanding the frequent coexistence of autoimmune thyroid disease (ATD) and primary Sjögren's Syndrome (SS), it is still unknown how often this association is studied along with its clinical impact.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to describe real-world screening practices for ATD in patients with SS and evaluate clinical outcomes of patients with both diagnoses using validated activity and chronicity indexes.

METHODS

It is a retrospective study of 223 patients with SS attending a tertiary referral center. Patients were under rheumatology surveillance and might have attended other clinics, including internal medicine and/or endocrinology. We registered glandular and extraglandular features, serology and scored the activity (ESSDAI) and the accrual damage (SSDDI) indexes. We also identified any thyroid function tests (TFT) performed, anti-thyroid antibodies, images, and histological thyroid examinations. A single endocrinologist reviewed all data.

RESULTS

One hundred forty-nine patients had at least one set of TFT. Younger age was associated with a lack of screening (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.95-0.99, p=0.01). Sixty-nine patients had thyroid disease, with the most common diagnosis being ATD (n=24). Patients with ATD had a lower prevalence of Ro/SSA and anti-La/SSB antibodies but similar cumulative SS activity and damage scores.

CONCLUSION

At least one-third of our patients were not screened for thyroid disease, with these patients being the youngest. Thyroid disorders were found in about 40% of patients with SS, with ATD being the most common. Having SS/ATD did not confer the worst disease activity or damage accrual. These results highlight the importance of making treating physicians aware of screening for thyroid disease in this population.

Hepatic steatosis as an independent risk factor for severe disease in patients with COVID-19: A computed tomography study

Background and Aim

Hepatic steatosis (HS) is associated with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, comorbidities recently related to COVID-19 severity. Here, we assessed if tomographic HS is also a risk factor for severe COVID-19 pneumonia.

Methods

We included 213 patients with a positive real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test and chest computed tomography (CT) from an out-hospital facility and a hospital. We obtained information on demographics; weight; height; smoking history; diabetes; hypertension; and cardiovascular, lung, and renal disease. Two radiologists scored the CO-RADs system (COVID-19 Reporting and Data System) (1 = normal, 2 = inconsistent, 3-4 = indeterminate, and 5 = typical findings) and the chest CT severity index (≥20 of 40 was considered severe disease). They evaluated the liver-to-spleen ratio (CTL/S) and defined tomographic steatosis as a CTL/S index ≤0.9. We used descriptive statistics, χ2 and t student tests, logistic regression, and reported odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results

Of the patients, 61% were men, with a mean age of 51.2 years, 48.3% were CO-RADs 1 and 51.7% CO-RADs 2-5. Severe tomographic disease was present in 103 patients (48.4%), all CO-RADs 5. This group was older; mostly men; and with a higher prevalence of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and HS (69.9 vs 29%). On multivariate analysis, age (OR 1.058, 95% CI 1.03-1.086, P < 0.0001), male gender (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.03-3.8, P = 0.04), and HS (OR 4.9, 95% CI 2.4-9.7, P < 0.0001) remained associated.

Conclusion

HS was independently associated with severe COVID pneumonia. The physiopathological explanation of this finding remains to be elucidated. CTL/S should be routinely measured in thoracic CT scans in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.