Multicenter lupus register from Argentina, the RELESSAR database: Influence of ethnicity on disease phenotype.

Objective: The objective is to describe the main characteristics of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Argentina and to examine the influence of ethnicity on the expression of the disease.

Patients And Methods: RELESSAR is a multicentre register carried out by 106 researchers from 67 rheumatologic Argentine centres. It is a cross-sectional study of SLE (1982/1997 ACR) patients.

Changing rate of serious infections in biologic-exposed rheumatoid arthritis patients. Data from South American registries BIOBADABRASIL and BIOBADASAR.

Objective: Most reports on serious infections (SI) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) are from the USA and Western Europe. Data from other regions are largely missing. We report data from South American countries with different backgrounds and health-care systems but similar registries.

[The repeated biopsy in patients with lupus nephritis].

We retrospectively studied patients with SLE according to ACR criteria, with NL who underwent a repeat renal biopsy from 2005 to 2012. We analyzed the main indications of renal biopsies, the histopathological Class and activity and chronicity changes. RESULTS The total number of patients with NL was 120, of which 18 (15%) patients underwent repeat renal biopsy, 18 had 2 renal biopsies and 6 had 3 biopsies.