Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystemic autoimmune disorder in which cardiac involvement is frequent and portends negative prognosis. Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is one of the most common cardiac alterations in these patients, and left atrial (LA) reservoir strain (Ɛ) measurement using speckle tracking echocardiography has been proposed as a novel parameter for a better assessment of LV diastolic function. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the prognostic value of Ɛ in a large multicenter cohort of SSc patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPol Arch Intern Med
November 2024
Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) encompasses a range of clinical conditions, particularly thrombotic or obstetrical manifestations, associated with the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies. Managing thrombotic APS in daily clinical practice can be challenging and requires thorough risk stratification and tailored treatment strategies. Primary prophylaxis focuses on correcting the traditional thrombotic risk factors and, in certain situations, may include low‑dose aspirin and / or prophylactic anticoagulants (eg, low‑molecular‑weight heparin).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To analyse how the potential exposure to air pollutants can influence the key components at the time of diagnosis of Sjögren's phenotype (epidemiological profile, sicca symptoms, and systemic disease).
Methods: For the present study, the following variables were selected for harmonization and refinement: age, sex, country, fulfilment of 2002/2016 criteria items, dry eyes, dry mouth, and overall ESSDAI score. Air pollution indexes per country were defined according to the OECD (1990-2021), including emission data of nitrogen and sulphur oxides (NO/SO), particulate matter (PM2.