Valve Abnormalities, Risk Factors for Heart Valve Disease and Valve Replacement Surgery in Spondyloarthritis. A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Evaluate the evidence on the abnormalities of the aortic root and heart valves, risk and prognostic factors for heart valve disease and valve replacement surgery in spondyloarthritis. A systematic literature review was performed using Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane databases until July 2021. Prevalence, incidence, risk and prognostic factors for heart valve disease; dimension, morphology, and pathological abnormalities of the valves were analyzed.

Association of apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A1 ratio and cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis: results of the CARMA study.

Objectives: To assess the plasma apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A1 ratio and its potential association with cardiovascular events (CVE) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A baseline analysis was made of the CARdiovascular in rheuMAtology Project (CARMA), a 10-year prospective study evaluating the presence of at least one CVE in 775 Spanish patients with RA. Of them, 29 had already experienced CVE prior to the inclusion in the study.

Hierarchical nomenclature in rheumatology.

Introduction: One of the missions of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology is to provide the necessary tools for excellence in health care. Currently, there is no reference point to quantify medical actions in this specialty, and this is imperative.

Material And Method: A list of actions was drawn up and a hierarchical classification system was established by developing a complexity index, calculated based on the completion time and difficulty level of each action.

Methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Spain: Subanalysis of the AR Excellence project.

Objective: The AR Excellence project evaluates clinical monitoring in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Spain. The aim of the study was to analyze the use of methotrexate (MTX) in the AR Excellence cohort and to compare it with current recommendations.

Patients And Methods: We collected data from RA patients who initiated treatment with MTX.

A composite indicator to assess the quality of care in the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in outpatient rheumatology clinics.

Objective: The current guidelines in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include the early diagnosis and early use of disease modifying drugs to achieve remission or low disease activity level, known as "Treat to Target" (T2T). The objective of this study is to develop a composite indicator (CI) to evaluate the quality of care in the management of patients with RA, according to the T2T strategy and other general recommendations concerning the management of these patients.

Material And Method: The phases of the construction of the CI were: 1) selection of quality criteria through expert judgment; 2) prioritization of the criteria, according to relevance and feasibility, applying the Delphi methodology (two rounds) involving 20 experts; 3) design of quality indicators; and 4) calculation of the weighted CI, using the mean value in relevance and feasibility granted by the experts.

Recommendations by the Spanish Society of Rheumatology for the management of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis who cannot be treated with methotrexate.

To establish a set of recommendations for the management of patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who cannot be treated with methotrexate (MTX) due to contraindications, drug toxicity or lack of adherence, and to establish therapeutic strategies more effective and safer in these RA patients. A qualitative analysis of the scientific evidence available to June 2015. The 2-round Delphi technique of consensus was used to collect and establish expert opinion based on the participants' clinical experience when only low quality evidence was available.

Association between antinuclear antibody titers and connective tissue diseases in a Rheumatology Department.

Objective: To determine the dilution titles at antinuclear antibodies (ANA) by indirect immunofluorescence observed in cell substrate HEp-2 and its association with the diagnosis of systemic connective tissue disease in ANA test requested by a Rheumatology Unit.

Method: Samples of patients attended for the first time in the rheumatology unit, without prior ANA test, between January 2010 and December 2012 were selected. The dilution titers, immunofluorescence patterns and antigen specificity were recorded.

Variability in Rheumatology day care hospitals in Spain: VALORA study.

Objective: To describe the variability of the day care hospital units (DCHUs) of Rheumatology in Spain, in terms of structural resources and operating processes.

Material And Methods: Multicenter descriptive study with data from a self-completed questionnaire of DCHUs self-assessment based on DCHUs quality standards of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology. Structural resources and operating processes were analyzed and stratified by hospital complexity (regional, general, major and complex).

Variability in the prescription of non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for the treatment of spondyloarthritis in Spain.

Objective: To describe the variability in the prescription of non-biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (nbDMARDs) for the treatment of spondyloarthritis (SpA) in Spain and to explore which factors relating to the disease, patient, physician, and/or center contribute to these variations.

Methods: A retrospective medical record review was performed using a probabilistic sample of 1168 patients with SpA from 45 centers distributed in 15/19 regions in Spain. The sociodemographic and clinical features and the use of drugs were recorded following a standardized protocol.

[Survival of patients with heart failure in primary care].

Objective: To describe survival of patients with chronic heart failure (HF) followed up in primary care (PC) and analyse the effect of sex, age, clinical and health services factors, and income levels on survival.

Design: Longitudinal observational study of a retrospective cohort of patients with information extracted from electronic medical records.

Setting: PC Area 7 of the Community of Madrid.

[Factors associated with hospital readmissions in the elderly].

Objective: To identify factors associated with hospital readmissions in the elderly.

Design: Observational descriptive study.

Setting: Health area 3 of Madrid.