An estimate of the cost of administering intravenous biological agents in Spanish day hospitals.

Objective: To estimate the unit costs of administering intravenous (IV) biological agents in day hospitals (DHs) in the Spanish National Health System.

Patients And Methods: Data were obtained from 188 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, collected from nine DHs, receiving one of the following IV therapies: infliximab (n=48), rituximab (n=38), abatacept (n=41), or tocilizumab (n=61). The fieldwork was carried out between March 2013 and March 2014.

VARIAR Study: Assessment of short-term efficacy and safety of rituximab compared to an tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonists as second-line drug therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis refractory to a first tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonist.

Objective: to compare the short-term efficacy and safety of rituximab (RTX) therapy versus anti-TNF in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients after discontinuation of a first anti-TNF agent.

Methods: prospective observational multicenter study in the clinical practice setting, involving patients with severe RA refractory to a first anti-TNF agent, who received either RTX or a second anti-TNF (2TNF), comparing the efficacy endpoints, EULAR response (Good/Moderate) and safety at 6 months.

Results: 103 patients enrolled, 82 completed 6-month follow-up, 73.

Predictive factors for induction of remission in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis treated with tocilizumab in clinical practice.

Objective: To identify predictors of early response to tocilizumab (TCZ) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) seen in daily routine clinical practice.

Methods: A multicenter ambispective observational study of 126 RA patients treated with TCZ as a first- or second-line biological therapy. The variables associated to achieve the therapeutic goal (remission defined as a DAS28-ESR < 2.

Extra-articular disease in patients with spondyloarthritis. Baseline characteristics of the spondyloarthritis cohort of the AQUILES study.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence of extra-articular disease (uveitis, psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease [IBD]), in a cohort of patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA).

Patients And Methods: AQUILES is an observational, prospective and multicentric study of three cohorts of patients with one of the following immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID): SpA, psoriasis, or IBD. In the present cohort, patients ≥18 years of age with SpA were enrolled from Rheumatology clinics.

Rituximab in the treatment of shrinking lung syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Shrinking lung syndrome (SLS) is a rare manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. We report the case of a patient with non-responding SLS (neither to glucocorticoids nor immunosupresors), who showed remarkable improvement after the onset of treatment with rituximab. Although there is a little evidence, treatment with rituximab could be proposed in SLS when classical treatment fails.