Publications by authors named "Maria Pascual-Pastor"

Article Synopsis
  • Some studies suggest that relying only on clinical values to assess remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can overlook subclinical inflammation, prompting the need for imaging tools like ultrasound (US) to improve therapy decisions.
  • A multicenter study was conducted with RA patients fulfilling specific criteria to compare treatment outcomes based on clinical evaluation versus ultrasound findings, with follow-ups at 12, 18, and 24 months.
  • Results indicated that while both groups experienced disease exacerbations, most complications occurred in the clinical group, highlighting the potential benefit of integrating ultrasound assessments into treatment optimization for RA patients.
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Introduction: Treatment of calcium (Ca) and vitamin D (VD) deficiency (VDD) is crucial for health, especially in bone conditions, such as low bone mineral density (BMD) and osteoporosis. Despite updates in clinical guideline recommendations, no studies have evaluated the efficacy and safety of administering 2000 IU of cholecalciferol combined with calcium. Thus, the main objective of this study was to evaluate VD levels following treatment with Ca 600 mg/ cholecalciferol 2000 IU in real-life clinical practice.

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Objectives: To investigate the incidence of COVID-19 in a cohort of adult and paediatric patients with rheumatic diseases receiving targeted biologic and synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (tDMARDs) and to explore the possible effect of these treatments in the clinical expression of COVID-19.

Methods: A cross-sectional study comprising of a telephone survey and electronic health records review was performed including all adult and paediatric patients with rheumatic diseases treated with tDMARDs in a large rheumatology tertiary centre in Barcelona, Spain. Demographics, disease activity, COVID-19 related symptoms and contact history data were obtained from the start of the 2020 pandemic.

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