CLINICAL HETEROGENEITY AND PROGNOSTIC STRATIFICATION OF POST-COVID RHEUMATIC DISEASES: FROM MOLECULAR BIOMARKERS TO JOINT SYNDROME PHENOTYPES

Rheumatic diseases are clinically heterogeneous conditions in which disease activity, progression rate, and organ involvement vary widely among patients. This heterogeneity has become even more pronounced in the post-COVID-19 era. SARS-CoV-2 infection acts as a systemic stressor capable of reprogramming immune responses, disrupting endothelial homeostasis, and accelerating fibrotic and degenerative processes. Consequently, patients with ankylosing spondylitis, rheumatoid arthritis, reactive arthritis, osteoarthritis, allergic vasculitis, and systemic sclerosis frequently experience altered disease trajectories following COVID-19