Clinical outcomes and safety of rituximab treatment for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) - results from a nationwide cohort in Germany (GRAID)

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this article is to evaluate the safety and clinical outcome of rituximab treatment in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients refractory to standard of care therapy in a real-life setting in Germany.

METHODS

The GRAID registry included patients with different autoimmune diseases who were given off-label treatment with rituximab. Data on safety and clinical response were collected retrospectively. In SLE patients, clinical parameters included tender and swollen joint counts, fatigue, myalgia, general wellbeing, Raynaud's and the SLEDAI index. Laboratory tests included dsDNA antibody titres, complement factors, hematologic parameters and proteinuria. Finally, the investigators rated their patients as non-, partial or complete responders based on clinical grounds.

RESULTS

Data from 85 SLE patients were collected, 69 female and 16 male, with a mean disease duration of 9.8 years. The mean follow-up period was 9.6 ± 7.4 months, resulting in 66.8 patient years of observation. A complete response was reported in 37 patients (46.8%), partial response in 27 (34.2%), no response in 15 (19.0%). On average, major clinical as well as laboratory efficacy parameters improved substantially, with the SLEDAI decreasing significantly from 12.2 to 3.3 points. Concerning safety, one infusion reaction leading to discontinuation of treatment occurred. Infections were reported with a rate of 19.5 (including six severe infections) per 100 patient years.

CONCLUSION

With the restrictions of a retrospective data collection, the results of this study confirm data of other registries, which suggest a favourable benefit-risk ratio of rituximab in patients with treatment-refractory SLE.

Fish, flesh and a good red herring: a case of ascending upper limb infection in a renal transplant patient

While newly developed potent immunosuppressive agents have dramatically reduced the incidence of rejection of transplanted organs, they have increased the patients' susceptibility to opportunistic infections and cancer. Here we report a rare skin infection caused by atypical mycobacterium marinum in a 50-year-old female renal transplant recipient. The patient presented with localized skin lesion on the dorsum of her hand, which was misdiagnosed as gout. Only after the lesions spread in a sporotrichoid pattern, a cutaneous infection with atypical mycobacteria was suspected. The diagnosis was based on histopathological analysis as well as mycobacterial culture, both showing infection with atypical mycobacterium. Three months of antimycobacterial treatment led to a marked regression of the lesions. Sporotrichoid lesions in renal transplant patients are rare and a diagnostic challenge for the physician. A thorough history and a low threshold for skin biopsies could prevent painful and unnecessary surgical interventions.