Competing Risks Analysis of Kidney Transplant Waitlist Outcomes: Two Important Statistical Perspectives.

Modern competing risks analysis has 2 primary goals in clinical epidemiology as follows: (i) to maximize the clinician's knowledge of etiologic associations existing between potential predictor variables and various cause-specific outcomes via cause-specific hazard models, and (ii) to maximize the clinician's knowledge of noteworthy differences existing in cause-specific patient risk via cause-specific subdistribution hazard models (cumulative incidence functions [CIFs]). A perfect application exists in analyzing the following 4 distinct outcomes after listing for a deceased donor kidney transplant (DDKT): (i) receiving a DDKT, (ii) receiving a living donor kidney transplant (LDKT), (iii) waitlist removal due to patient mortality or a deteriorating medical condition, and (iv) waitlist removal due to other reasons. It is important to realize that obtaining a complete understanding of subdistribution hazard ratios (HRs) is simply not possible without first having knowledge of the multivariable relationships existing between the potential predictor variables and the cause-specific hazards (perspective #1), because the cause-specific hazards form the "building blocks" of CIFs.

The synovial and blood monocyte DNA methylomes mirror prognosis, evolution, and treatment in early arthritis.

Identifying predictive biomarkers at early stages of inflammatory arthritis is crucial for starting appropriate therapies to avoid poor outcomes. Monocytes (MOs) and macrophages, largely associated with arthritis, are contributors and sensors of inflammation through epigenetic modifications. In this study, we investigated associations between clinical features and DNA methylation in blood and synovial fluid (SF) MOs in a prospective cohort of patients with early inflammatory arthritis.

Biomarker candidates for progression and clinical management of COVID-19 associated pneumonia at time of admission.

COVID-19 pathophysiology is currently not fully understood, reliable prognostic factors remain elusive, and few specific therapeutic strategies have been proposed. In this scenario, availability of biomarkers is a priority. MS-based Proteomics techniques were used to profile the proteome of 81 plasma samples extracted in four consecutive days from 23 hospitalized COVID-19 associated pneumonia patients.

Higher prevalence of psoriatic arthritis in the adult population in Spain? A population-based cross-sectional study.

Objective: The prevalence of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is very heterogeneous. There are no data on its frequency in the general population in Spain. The aim of EPISER2016 study was to estimate the prevalence of PsA in people aged ≥20 years in Spain.

Diagnostic and therapeutic delay of rheumatoid arthritis and its relationship with health care devices in Catalonia. The AUDIT study.

Objective: Diagnosis and therapy of patients with early onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is influenced by accessibility to specialized care devices. We attempted to analyze the impact of their availability.

Methods: We analyzed time related to diagnosis delay measuring: 1) Time from first clinical symptoms to the first visit with the Rheumatologist; 2) Time from referral to the first visit of Rheumatology; 3) Time between first symptom until final diagnosis; 4) time between first symptom until the initiation of the first disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD).