2021 Update of the EULAR Points to Consider in the Use of Immunomodulatory Therapies in COVID-19 (Part 2)
The European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) has released updates on the guidelines and points to consider (PTC) on the use of immunomodulatory therapies for the Coronavirus disease (Covid).
We started the discussion last week and we are continuing it this week.
The use of immunomodulatory therapies in SARSCoV-2 infection or Covid, is changing and the guidelines can change once new or radical information surfaces. Thus this is really a challenge to the scientific community.
Latest pieces of information in the clinical management of patients who are infected with Covid are made public on a weekly basis.
In this light, several scientific societies, including EULAR, have formulated guidance on treatment of COVID-19.
In order to have the most up-to-date treatment modalities to clinicians and patients, efforts to update these guidelines in a timely manner is being made.
The aim was to update the EULAR PTC on the use of immunomodulatory therapies in Covid from the standpoint of rheumatologists using a systematic literature review (SLR)-based method.
The EULAR task force (TF) that developed the first version of the PTC, performed the update in the guidelines and the PTC, through systematic literature review retrieving individual studies on the management of Covid infection with immunomodulatory therapies posted between 11 Dec. 2020 and 30 June 2021. It was subsequently updated up to 14 July 2021.
Moreover, a search to retrieve individual studies on the management of Covid infection using monoclonal antibodies was performed.
The systematic literature review (SLR) is published and also an integral part of the project.
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published as preprints or press releases, were also included for the sake of completeness .
Updated statements were presented to the TF, and discussed against the SLR results.
Finally, TF members indicated their level of agreement with each PTC online.
We will continue next week our discussion by focusing on the results of the decision of the TF and what the new guidelines and PTC are.