Cross-cultural validation and psychometric properties of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST-bp).

Although the Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) questionnaire is a useful tool for screening patients for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), it has not been validated in Portuguese. Our aim was to perform a cross-cultural validation of the PEST for Brazilian Portuguese, as well as to analyse its psychometric properties and to test the association of PEST scores with patient clinical characteristics. The first step was the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the PEST questionnaire into Brazilian Portuguese, which included forward translation, synthesis, back translation, consolidation with an expert panel and cognitive debriefing with pilot testing.

Density of mast cells and intensity of pruritus in psoriasis vulgaris: a cross sectional study.

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic and prevalent disease, and the associated pruritus is a common, difficult-to-control symptom. The mediators involved in psoriatic pruritus have not been fully established.

Objective: To evaluate associations between the number of mast cells in psoriatic lesions and the intensity of pruritus.

The CDKN2A p.A148T variant is associated with cutaneous melanoma in Southern Brazil.

Several germline mutations and sequence variants in cancer predisposition genes have been described. Among these, the CDKN2A p.A148T variant appears to be frequent in patients with melanoma, at least in certain ethnic groups.

Role of probucol in inhibiting intimal hyperplasia after coronary stent implantation: a randomized study.

Background: Oxygen-free radicals can stimulate smooth muscle cell proliferation and may therefore be involved in the genesis of in-stent restenosis. Thus, treatment with probucol, a potent antioxidant agent that has been shown to reduce restenosis after balloon angioplasty, may be an effective strategy to prevent intimal hyperplasia after stenting.

Methods: In a prospective double-blind study, 59 patients submitted to coronary stent implantation were randomly assigned to treatment with either probucol (1 g/d) or placebo, starting two weeks before the procedure and continued for 6 months.

Tei index in adult patients submitted to adriamycin chemotherapy: failure to predict early systolic dysfunction. Diagnosis of adriamycin cardiotoxicity.

Aims: This study prospectively assessed whether Tei index is predictive of early systolic dysfunction in adults undergoing adriamycin treatment.

Methods And Results: Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was obtained by radionuclide ventriculography at baseline and after treatment. Tei index was evaluated by echocardiography at baseline, at an intermediary cycle and at the end of chemotherapy.

Superoxide dismutase activity in adriamycin-induced cardiotoxicity in humans: a potential novel tool for risk stratification.

Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in Adriamycin cardiotoxicity experimentally. We evaluated whether changes in systemic markers of antioxidant reserve occur and are associated with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction during Adriamycin use in humans.

Methods And Results: We prospectively evaluated oncology patients eligible for Adriamycin chemotherapy.