Steroid-Resistant Graves' Orbitopathy Treated with Tocilizumab in Real-World Clinical Practice: A 9-Year Single-Center Experience.

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab use for the treatment of active steroid-resistant Graves' orbitopathy (GO). A retrospective longitudinal study was conducted by reviewing the medical records at a single center between November 2009 and December 2018. A total of 114 patients with steroid-resistant Graves' orbitopathy were examined and treated with tocilizumab, of which 54 adults met the inclusion criteria.

Offering, participation and adherence to cardiac rehabilitation programmes in the elderly: a European comparison based on the EU-CaRE multicentre observational study.

Aims: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is strongly recommended but participation of elderly patients has not been well characterized. This study aims to analyse current rates and determinants of CR referral, participation, adherence, and compliance in a contemporary European cohort of elderly patients.

Methods And Results: The EU-CaRE observational study included data from consecutive patients aged ≥ 65 with acute coronary syndrome, revascularization, stable coronary artery disease, or heart valve replacement, recruited in eight European centres.

Combination of Tocilizumab and Steroids to Improve Mortality in Patients with Severe COVID-19 Infection: A Spanish, Multicenter, Cohort Study.

Background: We aimed to determine the impact of tocilizumab use on severe COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 19) pneumonia mortality.

Methods: We performed a multicentre retrospective cohort study in 18 tertiary hospitals in Spain from March to April 2020. Consecutive patients admitted with severe COVID-19 treated with tocilizumab were compared to patients not treated with tocilizumab, adjusting by inverse probability of the treatment weights (IPTW).

Bias in pharmacoepidemiologic studies using secondary health care databases: a scoping review.

Background: The availability of clinical and therapeutic data drawn from medical records and administrative databases has entailed new opportunities for clinical and epidemiologic research. However, these databases present inherent limitations which may render them prone to new biases. We aimed to conduct a structured review of biases specific to observational clinical studies based on secondary databases, and to propose strategies for the mitigation of those biases.

Primary versus secondary source of data in observational studies and heterogeneity in meta-analyses of drug effects: a survey of major medical journals.

Background: The data from individual observational studies included in meta-analyses of drug effects are collected either from ad hoc methods (i.e. "primary data") or databases that were established for non-research purposes (i.

Summarising the Evidence for Drug Safety: A Methodological Discussion of Different Meta-Analysis Approaches.

Evidence on drug safety obtained from randomised clinical trials is very limited due to, among other reasons, their relatively small sample size. Hence, combining the results of available studies can prove particularly useful. This paper reviews the different data sources for summarising drug safety outcomes, according to study design, publication of data, and origin of the information.

Diverging Conclusions from the Same Meta-Analysis in Drug Safety: Source of Data (Primary Versus Secondary) Takes a Toll.

Introduction: Meta-analyses of observational studies represent an important tool for assessing efficacy and safety in the pharmacoepidemiologic field. The data from the individual studies are either primary (i.e.

Efficacy of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy in chronic pancreatitis: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The benefits of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) in chronic pancreatitis (CP) are inadequately defined. We have undertaken a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of PERT to determine the efficacy of PERT in exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) from CP.

Design: Major databases were searched from 1966 to 2015 inclusive.