Publications by authors named "Fernando Pimentel-Santos"

Purpose: To determine the effects of stratified primary care for low back pain (SPLIT program) in decreasing back-related disability for patients with low back pain (LBP) in primary care.

Methods: We conducted a before-and-after study. We compared health-related outcomes for 2 sequential, independent cohorts of patients with LBP recruited at 7 primary care units in Portugal.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers measured whole blood mRNA and plasma proteins in a group of 35 biologic-naïve axSpA patients before and after 14 weeks of TNFi treatment, finding significant changes in inflammatory markers and immune cell compositions between responders and non-responders.
  • * A predictive model was created using relevant clinical and gene expression data, achieving high accuracy (AUC = 0.97) in determining who might respond positively to the treatment, suggesting that baseline immune cell
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Objectives: We aimed to identify determinants of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and global functioning and health (GH) in axial SpA (axSpA), peripheral SpA (pSpA) and (PsA).

Methods: The ASAS-perSpA study data were analysed. Models for the three patient groups were run separately to explore factors associated with HRQoL and GH, assessed by EQ-5D and ASAS-HI, respectively.

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Aim: To collect and summarize the available scientific evidence that evaluates the effects of physical exercise interventions on axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Methods: A systematic review was conducted in accordance to the guidance of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) to collect randomized controlled trials on the PubMed, Embase and Web of Science Core Collection databases. The search strategy included terms regarding physical exercise interventions targeted to axSpA participants and all of its variants in multiple combinations adapted to each one of the databases regarding its own special requirements.

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Objectives: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a common health problem and in most patients it is not possible to identify a specific cause (non-specific CLBP). Spondyloarthritis is a musculoskeletal disorder characterized by (often inflammatory) back pain and spinal stiffness. The impact of CLBP and spondyloarthritis on patients' physical function may be different.

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While factors contributing to between-subjects differences in pain have been studied extensively, factors contributing to the within-subjects variability of pain reports are yet unexplored. The aim of this investigation was to assess possible associations between short-term memory and the within-subjects variability of pain reports in healthy and chronic pain patients. Healthy participants were recruited at the University of Haifa, Israel, and Fibromyalgia patients were recruited at a rheumatology department in a central hospital in Lisbon, Portugal.

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Purpose: Both spondyloarthritis and chronic low back pain (CLBP) significantly impact health-related quality of life (HRQoL). It is important to clarify whether these disorders have different impacts on the several domains of HRQoL as different mechanisms may necessitate different treatment interventions. Moreover, the factors associated with HRQoL can inform more targeted group interventions to promote HRQoL.

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Objectives: To update the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society (ASAS)-EULAR recommendations for the management of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Methods: Following the EULAR Standardised Operating Procedures, two systematic literature reviews were conducted on non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment of axSpA. In a task force meeting, the evidence was presented, discussed, and overarching principles and recommendations were updated, followed by voting.

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Background: Methotrexate (MTX) is an anti-folate drug with anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects. MTX proved to be the most highly effective, fast-acting disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), being widely used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This review aims to describe the main genetic variants identified concerning proteins that play a role in methotrexate's kinetics and efficiency profile.

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Background: Axial Spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic, inflammatory rheumatic disease that affects the axial skeleton, causing pain, stiffness, and fatigue. Genetics and environmental factors such as microbiota and microtrauma are known causes of disease susceptibility and progression. Murine models of axSpA found a decisive role for biomechanical stress as an inducer of enthesitis and new bone formation.

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Objectives: We aimed to investigate muscle physical properties, strength, mass, physical performance, and the prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with axial spondylarthritis (axSpA) compared to the healthy controls (HC).

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on 54 participants: 27 patients with axSpA and 27 HC, matched by age, gender, and level of physical activity. Muscle physical properties (stiffness, tone and elasticity), muscle strength (five-times sit-to-stand [5STS] test), muscle mass, physical performance (measured through gait speed) and sarcopenia were compared between the groups.

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Objective: To identify clusters of peripheral involvement according to the specific location of peripheral manifestations (ie, arthritis, enthesitis and dactylitis) in patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) including psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and to evaluate whether these clusters correspond with the clinical diagnosis of a rheumatologist.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 24 participating countries. Consecutive patients diagnosed by their rheumatologist as PsA, axial SpA or peripheral SpA were enrolled.

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Objective: Biobanks for research (BBR) have enormous value for research, including those specifically oriented to chronic diseases. Knowing public attitudes and perceptions is key to design and implement patient-centered BBR. We assessed patient awareness, perception and choices among rheumatology outpatients regarding aging biobanking activities.

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CD4 T cells mediate rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis through both antibody-dependent and independent mechanisms. It remains unclear how synovial microenvironment impinges on CD4 T cells pathogenic functions. Here, we identified a TLR4 follicular helper T (Tfh) cell-like population present in the blood and expanded in synovial fluid.

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Objective: To describe the development of an Environmental contextual factors (EF) Item Set (EFIS) accompanying the disease specific Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society Health Index (ASAS HI).

Method: First, a candidate item pool was developed by linking items from existing questionnaires to 13 EF previously selected for the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) /ASAS Core Set. Second, using data from two international surveys, which contained the EF item pool as well as the items from the ASAS HI, the number of EF items was reduced based on the correlation between the item and the ASAS HI sum score combined with expert opinion.

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Background: Spondyloarthritis (SpA) are the most common group of chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases affecting about 1.5% of the adult Caucasian population. Low back pain is the most common symptom.

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Objective: The human resting myofascial tone maintains the body tone in a neutral posture, the assessment of this and other muscle physical properties (MPP) is relevant, since, it is altered in many pathological states.

Patients And Methods: Seventeen healthy subjects (8 males), between 18-50 years old, were assessed. The MPP of lower lumbar muscles was evaluated on right and left sides during prone resting position using two devices; myotonometry (stiffness, elasticity and tone) and ultrasound-based shear-wave elastography (SWE) (shear modulus).

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Background: Clinical studies with work participation (WP) as an outcome domain pose particular methodological challenges that hamper interpretation, comparison between studies and meta-analyses.

Objectives: To develop Points to Consider (PtC) for design, analysis and reporting of studies of patients with inflammatory arthritis that include WP as a primary or secondary outcome domain.

Methods: The EULAR Standardised Operating Procedures were followed.

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Background: To investigate whether the reason to discontinue the first TNF inhibitor (TNFi) affects the response to the second TNFi in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Methods: Patients with axSpA from the Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register (ReumaPt), who discontinued their first TNFi and started the second TNFi between June 2008 and May 2018, were included. Response was assessed by the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) clinically important improvement (ASDAS-CII), major important improvement (ASDAS-MI), low disease activity (ASDAS-LDA), and inactive disease (ASDAS-ID).

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Objectives: To assess the efficacy of biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) in achieving Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society partial remission (ASAS-PR) and/or Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score inactive disease (ASDAS-ID), as remission-like surrogates, in axial SpA (axSpA).

Methods: Data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including long-term extensions, were included. A systematic literature review was performed using the MEDLINE database (first search May 2018, updated February 2020) and PICO criteria according to Patients-adults with radiographic or non-radiographic axSpA; Intervention-any bDMARD; Comparator-placebo and/or any different drug; Outcomes-ASAS-PR and/or ASDAS-ID as primary or secondary endpoints.

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Congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG) are rare diseases with variable phenotypes and severity. Immunological involvement remains a largely uncharted topic in CDG, mainly due to lack of robust data. To better characterize immune-related manifestations' prevalence, relevance, and quality-of-life (QoL) impact, we developed electronic questionnaires targeting (1) CDG patients and (2) the general "healthy" population.

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