Characterization of the patterns of care, access, and direct cost of systemic lupus erythematosus in Brazil: findings from the Macunaíma study.

Background: A cost of illness (COI) study aims to evaluate the socioeconomic burden that an illness imposes on society as a whole. This study aimed to describe the resources used, patterns of care, direct cost, and loss of productivity due to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Brazil.

Methods: This 12-month, cross-sectional, COI study of patients with SLE (ACR 1997 Classification Criteria) collected data using patient interviews (questionnaires) and medical records, covering: SLE profile, resources used, morbidities, quality of life (12-Item Short Form Survey, SF-12), and loss of productivity.

Efficacy and Safety of PARACHUTE® Device: systematic review.

Introduction: Heart failure due to an acute myocardial infarction is a very frequent event, with a tendency to increase according to improvements in the treatment of acute conditions which have led to larger numbers of infarction survivors.

Objective: The aim of this study is to synthesize the evidence, through a systematic review, on efficacy and safety of the device in patients with this basic condition.

Methods: Studies published between January 2002 and October 2016 were analysed, having as reference databases Embase, Medline, Cochrane Library, Lilacs, Web of Science and Scopus.

[Cost-effectiveness analysis on the reutilization of coronary artery catheters in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].

The aim of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness ratio of new versus reprocessed coronary artery catheters in a Federal public hospital. This was an analytical decision-making model prepared to estimate the cost-effectiveness ratio between two strategies in the use of materials in coronary artery catheterization, with pyrogenic reaction as the clinical outcome. Costs were estimated using direct data collection in the respective catheterization services and expressed in Brazilian Reais (R$), with 2012 as the reference year.