Publications by authors named "Maria L Garcia Vivar"

Evidence-based treatment recommendations for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) suggest that treatment should be individualised but acknowledge the difficulty of correctly defining levels of activity (mild, moderate and severe). The aim of this study was to define the parameters or disease characteristics that should be included in a future definition of moderate PsA. Mixed.

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Introduction: The nature of the relationship between inflammation, cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and atherosclerosis in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) remains largely unknown and sex differences in this regard are yet to be assessed.

Methods: Study including 611 men and 302 women from the Spanish multicentre AtheSpAin cohort to assess CV disease in axSpA. Data on CV disease risk factors were collected both at disease diagnosis and at enrolment, and data on disease activity, functional indices and carotid ultrasonography only at enrolment.

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Background: In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the activation of T and B cell clones specific for self-antigens leads to the chronic inflammation of the synovium. Here, we perform an in-depth quantitative analysis of the seven chains that comprise the adaptive immune receptor repertoire (AIRR) in RA.

Results: In comparison to controls, we show that RA patients have multiple and strong differences in the B cell receptor repertoire including reduced diversity as well as altered isotype, chain, and segment frequencies.

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Objective: The objective of this observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, multicentre study was to assess the perceived quality and grade of satisfaction expressed by patients with chronic arthropathies regarding the use of musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasonography by rheumatologists as an integrated clinical care tool.

Methods: All Spanish rheumatology departments with MSK ultrasonography incorporated in their healthcare services were invited to participate in the study. A Spanish-language survey was offered to fill out anonymously to all consecutive patients with chronic arthropathies under follow-up in the rheumatology outpatient clinics who attended their centre for a period of 3 months.

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Objective: To identify perceptions of gender bias in Spanish rheumatology and to quantify the involvement of both sexes in all areas of the specialty.

Methods: A survey was sent to all members of the SER on participation and perception of biases and of their own competencies, and actual data on participation in governing bodies, congresses, committees, and Spanish rheumatology departments in the last 5 years were reviewed.

Results: The survey was answered by 95 rheumatologists, 4.

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Introduction: Patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) have a high disease burden mainly due to the rheumatic disease itself, and also exhibit accelerated atherosclerosis, that leads to a higher incidence of cardiovascular (CV) disease. Accordingly, the identification of biomarkers of CV risk and inflammation in axSpA patients is clinically relevant. In this sense, given the beneficial functions exerted by the adipomyokine irisin in processes related to CV disease and inflammation, our aim was to assess, for the first time, the role of irisin as a genetic and serological biomarker of subclinical atherosclerosis, CV risk and disease severity in axSpA patients.

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Objectives: To identify disease-related factors associated with subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular (CV) events in a large series of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and to identify possible differences in the effect of the potential pro-atherogenic factors between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) non-radiographic axSpA (nr-axSpA).

Methods: This is a cross-sectional observational study of the AtheSpAin cohort, a Spanish multicenter cohort to study atherosclerosis in axSpA. Subclinical atherosclerosis determined by carotid ultrasound included assessment of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and plaque detection.

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Background: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) patients are known to have a higher prevalence of several comorbidities, including, among others, an increased risk of atherosclerosis, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the sum of traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors is related to disease characteristics, such as disease activity, in patients with axSpA.

Methods: A cross-sectional study that encompassed 804 patients with axSpA was conducted.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the clinical and cost-effectiveness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for adalimumab levels in patients with rheumatic diseases compared to standard care over 18 months.
  • In this non-randomized trial involving 150 patients, the intervention group (IG) showed numerically fewer flares and improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL) metrics at 3 and 6 months compared to the control group (CG).
  • Although the primary endpoint regarding flare reduction wasn't met, the IG had lower direct medical costs and achieved a higher quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), indicating that TDM-based dose adjustment is both effective and cost-efficient.
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Background: Vaspin is a novel anti-inflammatory adipokine associated with cardiovascular (CV) disease and inflammation in chronic inflammatory conditions different from axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Given the high incidence of CV disease (mainly due to accelerated atherosclerosis) exhibited by axSpA patients, we wondered if vaspin could also be a key molecule in this process. However, data on the role of vaspin regarding atherosclerotic disease in the context of axSpA is scarce.

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Objectives: To compare the atherosclerosis disease burden between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic (nr) axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and establish a model that allows to identify high-cardiovascular (CV) risk in axial spondyloarthritis patients.

Methods: Cross-sectional study from the AtheSpAin cohort, a Spanish multicenter cohort aimed to study atherosclerosis in axSpA. Carotid ultrasound (US) was performed to determine the carotid intima-media wall thickness (cIMT) and detect the presence of carotid plaques.

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Objective: Since obesity has been associated with a higher inflammatory burden and worse response to therapy in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases (CIRD), we aimed to confirm the potential association between body mass index (BMI) and disease activity in a large series of patients with CIRDs included in the Spanish CARdiovascular in rheuMAtology (CARMA) registry.

Methods: Baseline data analysis of patients included from the CARMA project, a 10-year prospective study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) attending outpatient rheumatology clinics from 67 Spanish hospitals. Obesity was defined when BMI (kg/m) was >30 according to the WHO criteria.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the 6-year radiographic progression of sacroiliitis in patients with early spondyloarthritis (SpA) using SIJ radiographs from a cohort.
  • Out of 94 patients, 83% of radiograph pairs showed no change over six years, indicating stability in disease progression for most participants.
  • The findings suggest that there wasn't significant progression from non-radiographic to radiographic sacroiliitis in this cohort, but the scoring method used has limitations in detecting minor changes.
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Background: Patients' experience with health care is becoming a key component for the provision of a patient-centered health care model. The aim of this study was to assess the experience with health care of patients with inflammatory arthritis and patient- and health care-related factors.

Methods: Patients responded to an anonymous survey provided by their treating clinical teams.

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Background: Patient experience is acknowledged as a principal aspect of quality healthcare delivery, and it has implications with regard to outcomes.

Objectives: Our objective was to evaluate the healthcare experience of patients with chronic diseases to identify patient-perceived healthcare gaps and to assess the influence of demographic and healthcare-related variables on patient experiences.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was delivered to adult patients with chronic diseases: diabetes mellitus (DM), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or rheumatic diseases.

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Although several randomized clinical trials and observational studies have evaluated the effectiveness, safety and drug survival of etanercept (ETN) in the treatment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), long-term data regarding these aspects are currently scarce. For this reason, we sought to investigate the long-term survival and safety of ETN in PsA patients in 4 tertiary care Spanish hospitals over a 13-year observation period (from 2004 to 2017). The records of 85 PsA patients were reviewed.

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Introduction: In numerous clinical practice guidelines, emphasis is placed on the need for coordinated care of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) between rheumatologists and the objective was to develop experience-based points to consider facilitating the implementation of multidisciplinary units (Dermatology/Rheumatology) for the management of patients with PsA.

Methods: A scientific committee of rheumatology and dermatology experts in the management of PsA, and with experience in joint care, discussed the critical aspects of multidisciplinary PsA Units. The discussion became the basis for a Delphi survey in two rounds submitted to a panel of 24 specialists in rheumatology and dermatology not involved in PsA units.

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Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of golimumab in the 140 patients included in Spain as the first part of the GO-MORE trial, a multinational study involving patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) despite treatment with different disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

Patients And Methods: The patients received subcutaneous golimumab 50mg once a month during 6 months. The primary endpoint was the percentage of individuals with a good or moderate EULAR DAS28-ESR response after 6 months of treatment.

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Objectives: To assess the reliability of the automated radio frequency (RF)-based US measurement of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) performed by rheumatologists and to evaluate the variability between this method and the conventional B-mode US measurement of carotid IMT in RA patients.

Methods: Twelve rheumatologists measured in two blinded rounds the IMT of both common carotid arteries (CCAs) of seven RA patients with an automated RF-based method. At each round, a cardiologist measured both CCA-IMTs of the patients using an automated B-mode method.

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