Long-Term Follow-Up of Anti-Infliximab Antibodies in Patients With Radiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis: A Marker of Drug Survival and Tapering.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of anti-infliximab (IFX) antibodies on three different points of care: response/tolerance to IFX, tapering strategy, and in a subsequent treatment with a second tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi).

Methods: A prospective cohort of 60 patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis who received IFX were evaluated retrospectively regarding clinical/laboratorial data, IFX levels, and anti-IFX antibodies at baseline, after 6, 12 to 14, 22 to 24, 48 to 54, 96 to 102 weeks, and before tapering or switching.

Results: Anti-IFX antibodies were detected in 27 patients (45%), of whom 23 (85.

Brazilian Society of Rheumatology 2020 guidelines for psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic and systemic immune disease characterized by inflammation of peripheral and/or axial joints and entheses in patients with psoriasis (PsO). Extra-articular and extracutaneous manifestations and numerous comorbidities can also be present. These recommendations replace the previous version published in May 2013.

Brazilian recommendations for the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in patients with axial spondyloarthritis.

Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is a group of chronic inflammatory systemic diseases characterized by axial and/or peripheral joints inflammation, as well as extra-articular manifestations. Over some decades, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been the basis for the pharmacological treatment of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). However, the emergence of the immunobiologic agents brought up the discussion about the role of NSAIDs in the management of these patients.

Ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis: revisiting screening of latent tuberculosis infection and its follow-up during anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy in an endemic area.

Objectives: To retrospectively evaluate the performance and distinctive pattern of latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI) screening and treatment in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) under anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy and determine the relevance of re-exposure and other risk factors for TB development.

Methods: A total of 135 and 83 patients with AS and PsA, respectively, were evaluated for LTBI treatment before receiving anti-TNF drugs via the tuberculin skin test (TST), chest radiography, and TB exposure history assessment. All subjects were evaluated for TB infection at 3-month intervals.

The Brazilian Society of Rheumatology guidelines for axial spondyloarthritis - 2019.

Spondyloarthritis is a group of chronic inflammatory systemic diseases characterized by axial and/or peripheral joints inflammation, as well as extra-articular manifestations. The classification axial spondyloarthritis is adopted when the spine and/or the sacroiliac joints are predominantly involved. This version of recommendations replaces the previous guidelines published in May 2013.

Epidemiologic Features of Systemic Vasculitides in the Southeast Region of Brazil: Hospital-Based Survey.

Background/objective: The epidemiology of vasculitis is variable in different geographic areas, and this issue has not been approached in Brazil yet. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of vasculitis in specialized centers in Brazil.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in 9 vasculitis outpatient clinics from 6 different states mainly from the Southeast and the Northeast regions of Brazil between 2015 and 2017.

Frosted branch angiitis and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis as an initial onset of neuro-Behçet's disease: a case report and review of the literature.

Background: Frosted branch angiitis is a rare, severe condition. It can be either a primary or a secondary condition and is characterized by rapid deterioration of vision and fulminant retinal vasculitis that manifests as diffuse sheathing of retinal vessels, macular edema, papillitis, vitritis and anterior uveitis. We aimed to describe a case of frosted branch angiitis and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis as an initial neuro-Behçet's disease onset.

Seronegative arthritis in Latin America: a current review.

In many Latin American countries seronegative arthritis, especially the spondyloarthritides (SpA), is commonly characterized by associated axial and peripheral involvement. In this article, the authors review the ethnic distribution of the population and the different SpA in 10 Latin American countries, and the main characteristics of the Ibero-American Registry of Spondyloarthropathies (RESPONDIA) compared with other international registries. The peripheral component of SpA is more frequent in mixed-race populations, whereas psoriatic arthritis is significantly more frequent in countries with predominantly white populations.

Cognitive impairment in Brazilian patients with Behçet's disease occurs independently of neurologic manifestation.

Unlabelled: Neuro-Behçet's disease (NBD) presents cognitive and behavioral symptoms possibly explained by secondary dysfunction of frontal and temporal cortices due to subcortical damage, as NBD commonly involves the brainstem and basal ganglia. Nonetheless, there are reports of cognitive impairment in patients without neurological manifestations.

Objective: To evaluate cognitive function in Behçet's disease (BD) patients with and without neurological manifestations and to analyze clinical variables associated with cognitive deficits.

Sexual activity in ankylosing spondylitis.

Objective: To assess the sexual activity of patients with ankylosing spondylitis, correlating it with disease activity and functional indices.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-two patients with ankylosing spondylitis and 32 healthy controls were assessed regarding pain, fatigue, sexual activity (by use of pictures of seven sexual positions), disease activity (by use of Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index - BASDAI), and functional capacity (by use of Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index - BASFI). After the interview, the patients were divided into two groups: group A (with sexual activity) and group B (no sexual activity).

Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI).

Objective: To conduct a cross-cultural adaptation of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) into Brazilian-Portuguese language and to assess its measurement properties.

Methods: The BASFI was translated by four rheumatologists and three English teachers. The translated questionnaire was applied to ankylosing spondylitis patients by trained observers, and self-administered in three moments: days 1, 2, and 14.

Low prevalence of renal, cardiac, pulmonary, and neurological extra-articular clinical manifestations in spondyloarthritis: analysis of the Brazilian Registry of Spondyloarthritis.

Objective: To describe the extra-articular manifestations (cardiac, renal, pulmonary, and neurological), usually not related to spondyloarthritis (SpA), in a large cohort of Brazilian patients.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study analyzed 1,472 patients diagnosed with SpA and cared for at 29 health care centers distributed in the five major geographic regions in the country, participating in the Brazilian Registry of Spondyloarthritis (BRS). All patients were assessed for the prevalence of major extra-articular manifestations (cardiac, renal, pulmonary, and neurological), classified according to the diagnosis [ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), reactive arthritis (ReA), arthritis associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (uSpA), and juvenile SpA], and according to the clinical presentation (axial, peripheral, mixed, and enthesitis).

Atypical manifestations in Brazilian patients with neuro-Behçet's disease.

Type and frequency of systemic and neurologic manifestations of Behçet's disease (BD) vary with ethnicity. In Brazil, BD occurs as sporadic cases. We describe clinical and radiological features of 36 Brazilian patients of mixed ethnicity with neuro-Behçet's disease (NBD).

Epilepsy and Behçet's disease: cortical and hippocampal involvement in Brazilian patients.

Objective: To describe clinical, radiological and electrophysiological findings in epileptic neuro-Behçet's (NBD) patients.

Methods: A retrospective review of 178 medical records of Behçet's disease patients was conducted in Brazil. Information on gender, ethnicity/skin color, age at symptom onset and age at onset of neurologic manifestations, type of seizures, clinical manifestation of the disease, use of antiepileptic drugs and immunosupressors was collected from medical records of all epileptic NBD patients.

Spondyloarthritis: analysis of a Brazilian series compared with a large Ibero-American registry (RESPONDIA group).

Recent studies have outlined the clinical and epidemiological profile of the spondyloarthritides in Ibero-American countries. The objective of this study was to compare the data collected in a Brazilian epidemiological study with the data obtained from other Ibero-American countries that used the same protocol of investigation. The Brazilian series presented a higher frequency of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (72.

Effects of anti-TNF therapy on glucose metabolism in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis or juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Sixty-two patients were investigated: 7 JIA; 37 AS; and 18 PsA. Caucasian race accounted for 79% and 29% were female.

Neutrophil hyperchemotaxis in Behçet's disease: a possible role for monocytes orchestrating bacterial-induced innate immune responses.

Increased neutrophil chemotaxis and hyperresponsiveness to streptococci have been considered to play a role in Behçet's disease (BD) pathogenesis. Our aim was to correlate TLR2 expression and chemotactic responses stimulated by bacterial lipoteichoic acid (LTA) in BD neutrophils. Thus, we assessed expressions of TLR2 and the correlate receptors CD14, CD114 (G-CSF receptor), CD116 (GM-CSF receptor) and also TLR4 on circulating neutrophils and monocytes of patients with active BD.

Faraway from the silk route: demographic and clinical features of Behçet's disease in 106 Brazilian patients.

To describe clinical and epidemiological data of Behçet's disease (BD) in Brazil, we retrospectively reviewed records of all patients seen between 2006 and 2007 at the BD outpatient clinic of University of Sao Paulo. One hundred and six patients fulfilled the International Study Group for Behçet's Disease diagnostic criteria and they were included in this study. There was a female/male ratio of 2.

Behçet's disease: clinical value of the video capsule endoscopy for small intestine examination.

We described a pilot study using Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) aiming the assessment of small bowel in Behçet's disease (BD). Ten patients with BD and abdominal complaints underwent VCE with Given Pillcam SB (Given Imaging Ltd., Yoqneam).

Anti-endothelial cell antibodies and central nervous system involvement in Behçet's disease.

Introduction: Previous studies have detected the presence of anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) in patients with Behçet's disease (BD). However, no real evidence exists whether these antibodies exert any influence on clinical presentation and/or activity of this disease.

Objectives: To determine the frequency of AECA in patients with BD and analyze possible clinical associations.

Brazilian-Portuguese version and applicability questionnaire of the mobility index for ankylosing spondyliti.

Purpose: To translate and adapt the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Methodology Index (BASMI) - a metrological measurement for the assessment of patients with ankylosing spondylitis to Brazilian-Portuguese and to analyze the applicability of the questionnaire.

Methods: The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Methodology Index was achieved through a translation and back-translation process. This new Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Methodology Index version was administered to 25 consecutive patients with ankylosing spondylitis who met the 1984 New York criteria for ankylosing spondylitis and were followed in the Soronegative Spondyloarthropathy Unit of the Rheumatology Division, São Paulo University Medical School, from May to November 2005.

Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Health Assessment Questionnaire for Spondyloarthropathies (HAQ-S) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation.

To translate and cross-culturally adapt to the Brazilian-Portuguese language (BP), five items were added to Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) to validate the resulting HAQ-S BP version for ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The items were translated into BP following translation and back-translation. To assess validity, 25 patients were evaluated using the HAQ, Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI), Bath AS Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath AS Metrology Index (BASMI), and laboratory variables (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein).