Skip to main content
Log in

A rebuttal letter to the letter ID number CLRH-D-21–00,836 entitled “On the efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis disease: missing points, bottlenecks, over-exaggeration and discrepancies”

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:
Clinical Rheumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

The Original Article was published on 16 July 2021

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

References

  1. Moradzadeh M AM, Mehrbakhsh Z, Abdollahi N, Arab Bafrani Z (2018) Efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy for patients with systemic sclerosis disease (SSc): systematic review and meta-analysis [CRD42018103751].

  2. Ahn E, Kang H (2018) Introduction to systematic review and meta-analysis. Korean J Anesthesiol 71:103–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Tawfik GM, Giang HTN, Ghozy S, Altibi AM, Kandil H, Le H-H, Eid PS, Radwan I, Makram OM, Hien TTT, Sherif M, Hossain AS, Thang TLL, Puljak L, Salem H, Numair T, Moji K, Huy NT (2020) Protocol registration issues of systematic review and meta-analysis studies: a survey of global researchers. BMC Med Res Methodol 20:213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Goswami RP, Ray A, Chatterjee M, Mukherjee A, Sircar G, Ghosh P (2021) Rituximab in the treatment of systemic sclerosis–related interstitial lung disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Rheumatology 60:557–567

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Tang R, Yu J, Shi Y, Zou P, Zeng Z, Tang B, Wang Y, Ling G, Luo M, Xiao R (2020) Safety and efficacy of Rituximab in systemic sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int Immunopharmacol 83:106389.

  6. Daoussis D, Liossis S, Tsamandas A, Kalogeropoulou C, Paliogianni F, Sirinian C, Yiannopoulos G, Andonopoulos A (2012) Effect of long-term treatment with rituximab on pulmonary function and skin fibrosis in patients with diffuse systemic sclerosis. Clin Exp Rheumatol -Incl Supplements 30:S17

    Google Scholar 

  7. Sircar G, Goswami RP, Sircar D, Ghosh A, Ghosh P (2018) Intravenous cyclophosphamide vs rituximab for the treatment of early diffuse scleroderma lung disease: open label, randomized, controlled trial. Rheumatology 57:2106–2113

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Fraticelli P, Fischetti C, Salaffi F, Carotti M, Mattioli M, Pomponio G, Gabrielli A (2018) Combination therapy with rituximab and mycophenolate mofetil in systemic sclerosis. A single-centre case series study. Clin Exp Rheumatol 36:S142-145

    Google Scholar 

  9. Sancho JA, Narváez J, Castellví I, Herrera S, Molina M, Castillo D, Rodríguez JO, De la Morena BI, Villarino MR, Pascual EV (2014) FRI0485 long-term efficacy of rituximab in systemic sclerosis. A Spanish Multicentric Analysis. Ann Rheum Dis 73:563–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ananyeva L, Desinova O, Starovoytova M, Koneva O, Yutkina N, Onsyannikova O, Volkov A, Aleksandrova E (2013) SAT0198 rituximab for the treatment of systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease: a case series. Ann Rheum Dis 72:A648–A648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Daoussis D, Liossis S-N, Antonopoulos I, Markatseli T, Yiannopoulos G, Drosos A, Andonopoulos A (2013) THU0245 rituximab has a beneficial effect on lung function and skin fibrosis in patients with systemic sclerosis. An open label study. Ann Rheum Dis 71:237–238

    Google Scholar 

  12. Guzelant G, Melikoglu M, Musellim B, Yilmaz D, Fresko I, Seyahi E, Hatemi G, Ugurlu S, Hamuryudan V (2017) AB0634 rituximab in systemic sclerosis-interstitial lung disease, a case series of 18 patients. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd,

  13. Melissaropoulos K, Daoussis D, Antonopoulos I, Markatseli T, Georgiou P, Yiannopoulos G, Drosos A, Andonopoulos A, Liossis S (2015) SAT0450 rituximab in systemic sclerosis. Results of an up to seven years, open label, multicenter study with a follow-up of 89 patient-years. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

  14. Kiryttopoulos P, Michailidis T, Papchianou E, Charalampidis M, Dimitriadis P, Agorastos A (2017) FRI0412 The positive effect of rituximab in pulmonary fibrosis of systemic sclerosis. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

  15. Thiebaut M, Launay D, Riviere S, Mahévas T, Bellakhal S, Hachulla E, Fain O, Mekinian A (2018) Efficacy and safety of rituximab in systemic sclerosis: French retrospective study and literature review. Autoimmun Rev 17:582–587

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Lepri G, Avouac J, Airò P, Anguita Santos F, Bellando-Randone S, Blagojevic J, Garcia Hernàndez F, Gonzalez Nieto JA, Guiducci S, Jordan S (2016) Effects of rituximab in connective tissue disorders related interstitial lung disease. Clin Exp Rheumatol 34:181–185

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Borenstein M, Hedges LV, Higgins JP, Rothstein HR (2009) Converting among effect sizes. Introduction to meta-analysis:45–49.

  18. Erre GL, Sebastiani M, Fenu MA, Zinellu A, Floris A, Cavagna L, Renzoni E, Manfredi A, Passiu G, Woodman RJ (2020) Efficacy, safety, and tolerability of treatments for systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. J Clin Med 9:2560

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Wan X, Wang W, Liu J, Tong T (2014) Estimating the sample mean and standard deviation from the sample size, median, range and/or interquartile range. BMC Med Res Methodol 14:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lajeunesse MJ (2011) On the meta-analysis of response ratios for studies with correlated and multi-group designs. Ecology 92:2049–2055

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Higgins JP, Thompson SG, Deeks JJ, Altman DG (2003) Measuring inconsistency in meta-analyses Bmj 327:557–560

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zahra Arab-Bafrani or Nafiseh Abdollahi.

Ethics declarations

Disclosures

None.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This reply refers to the comment available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-021-05786-5.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Moradzadeh, M., Aghaei, M., Mehrbakhsh, Z. et al. A rebuttal letter to the letter ID number CLRH-D-21–00,836 entitled “On the efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis disease: missing points, bottlenecks, over-exaggeration and discrepancies”. Clin Rheumatol 40, 4779–4780 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-021-05832-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-021-05832-2

Navigation