Correlation and agreement between physical and ultrasound examination after a training session dedicated to the standardization of synovitis assessment in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Objectives: Assessing disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients requires comprehensive quantification of tender and swollen joints. We aimed to evaluate the correlation and agreement between rheumatologists after a training session dedicated to the standardization of synovitis assessment and compare its performance with a reference imaging modality such as musculoskeletal ultrasonography (MSUS).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 28 and 10 joints in RA patients were evaluated by physical examination and ultrasound (US), respectively.

Association of Obesity With Lower Rates of Remission in a Colombian Cohort of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objectives: Modifiable risk factors associated with the severity of rheumatoid arthritis have been studied, including the body mass index (BMI). The aim was to compare the evolution of disease activity during 24 months of follow-up in different initial BMI groups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Method: Patients were classified based on their initial BMI (normal weight, overweight, and obese).

Design of an algorithm for the diagnostic approach of patients with joint pain.

Background: Rheumatic diseases are a reason for frequent consultation with primary care doctors. Unfortunately, there is a high percentage of misdiagnosis.

Objective: To design an algorithm to be used by primary care physicians to improve the diagnostic approach of the patient with joint pain, and thus improve the diagnostic capacity in four rheumatic diseases.

Does healthcare regime affiliation influence the clinical outcomes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis?

Background/purpose: Adequate control of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) depends, to a great extent, on the access to a rheumatologist. This study aimed to compare the disease outcomes of patients with RA, based on their healthcare regime affiliation.

Methods: A retrospective observational study of Colombian patients with RA in three outpatient services of different regimes: Contributory (CR, workers and their families with a monthly income above a yearly defined threshold, approximately US$ 220, who allocate a percentage of their income to financing the national health fund and to get access to healthcare services), subsidized (SR, a vulnerable population with a monthly income below the threshold, who have access to healthcare through the national health fund; comparable to the USA Medicaid population), and an excellence clinical care center (C3, access to specialized care, regardless of their healthcare affiliation regime).

Rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus: Pathophysiological mechanisms related to innate immune system.

Rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus are two highly prevalent autoimmune diseases that generate disability and low quality of life. The innate immune system, a long-forgotten issue in autoimmune diseases, is becoming increasingly important and represents a new focus for the treatment of these entities. This review highlights the role that innate immune system plays in the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Maintenance of low disease activity and remission with etanercept-disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) combination therapy compared with treatment with DMARDs alone in Latin American patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: Subset analysis of a randomized trial.

Background: Current guidelines on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) recommend early therapy targeting the achievement of low disease activity (LDA) or clinical remission. Little published information is available on the success of this treatment strategy in Latin America. In a subset analysis of patients from Latin America, we compared efficacy maintenance with etanercept 50 mg once weekly (ETN50) versus placebo (PBO), on a background of methotrexate (MTX) ± other non-biologic, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, in patients with moderate-to-severe RA who had achieved LDA with ETN50.

Design and validation of LupusCol, an instrument for the evaluation of health-related quality of life in Colombian adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: The aim of this study was to design and validate LupusCol, an instrument for the evaluation of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Colombian adult patients with SLE.

Methods: Items and domains of the initial instrument were defined. Preliminary tests were made with the participation of patients.

Single anti-P ribosomal antibodies are not associated with lupus nephritis in patients suffering from active systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: In clinical practice, it is sometimes difficult to diagnose a relapse in patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN) having potential complications, including renal failure and death. Some immunological markers can help to determine their association with LN and, therefore, diagnose the early onset of complications.

Objectives: Evaluating the association between systemic and/or kidney activity and anti-P ribosomal and anti-dsDNA antibodies in patients suffering from active SLE.

Hashimoto encephalopathy (autoimmune encephalitis).

Patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis may have neurologic manifestations that have been described in the literature for some decades now; these include psychiatric disorders, abnormal movements, and simulation of cerebrovascular events. Nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI) studies have revealed diffuse leukoencephalopathy in most cases. We describe a case having clinical manifestations simulating cerebrovascular events, together with cognitive alterations (a presentation already described in other patients).