Neutropenia and Felty Syndrome in the Twenty-First Century: Redefining Ancient Concepts in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients.

To describe the frequency of neutropenia and Felty syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) attended in routine clinical practice. We selected by randomization a sample of 270 RA patients attended from January 2014 to November 2022. Demographic, clinical, and neutropenia-related variables were collected from the electronic medical records.

Quality certification standard proposal ⬓SpACE⬽ for axial spondyloarthritis treatment units.

Background And Objective: Axial spondyloarthritis is an immune-mediated disease with a high cost, diagnostic delay and associated complications that makes it a particularly important condition. This work aims to establish a certification standard (SpACE Project) for monographic consultations in its diagnosis and treatment.

Materials And Methods: Qualitative study of consensus, through the technique of the nominal group.

The Fracture Liaison Service of the Virgen Macarena University Hospital Reduces the Gap in the Management of Osteoporosis, Particularly in Men. It Meets the International Osteoporosis Foundation Quality Standards.

Objectives: To describe the Fracture Liaison Service (FLS), to know the characteristics of the patients attended with emphasis on sex differences, and to know the compliance of International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) quality standards.

Methods: Observational, prospective research. All the consecutive patients that attended in usual clinical practice from May 2018 to October 2019, were over 50 years, and with a fragility fracture (FF), were included.

Quality Certification Standard Proposal "SpACE" for Axial Spondyloarthritis Treatment Units.

Background And Objective: Axial spondyloarthritis is an immune-mediated disease with a high cost, diagnostic delay and associated complications that makes it a particularly important condition. This work aims to establish a certification standard (SpACE Project) for monographic consultations in its diagnosis and treatment.

Materials And Methods: Qualitative study of consensus, through the technique of the nominal group.

Integrative Clinical, Molecular, and Computational Analysis Identify Novel Biomarkers and Differential Profiles of Anti-TNF Response in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

This prospective multicenter study developed an integrative clinical and molecular longitudinal study in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients to explore changes in serologic parameters following anti-TNF therapy (TNF inhibitors, TNFi) and built on machine-learning algorithms aimed at the prediction of TNFi response, based on clinical and molecular profiles of RA patients. A total of 104 RA patients from two independent cohorts undergoing TNFi and 29 healthy donors (HD) were enrolled for the discovery and validation of prediction biomarkers. Serum samples were obtained at baseline and 6 months after treatment, and therapeutic efficacy was evaluated.

Similar incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with rheumatic diseases with and without hydroxychloroquine therapy.

Background: Hydroxychloroquine is not efficacious as post-exposure prophylaxis against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is not known whether as pre-exposure prophylaxis it may prevent COVID-19.

Objective: To compare the incidence of COVID-19 in Spanish patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases treated with and without hydroxychloroquine.

Treat-to-target strategy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Audit of adherence from real world clinical data.

Introduction: The current paradigm of the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) recommends achieving a state of remission or low disease activity through the treat-to-target strategy. Our study assesses adherence to this strategy.

Method: Patients with RA (ACR-EULAR 2010 criteria) were included.

Differences in clinical manifestations and increased severity of systemic lupus erythematosus between two groups of Hispanics: European Caucasians versus Latin American mestizos (data from the RELESSER registry).

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is regarded as a prototype autoimmune disease because it can serve as a means for studying differences between ethnic minorities and sex. Traditionally, all Hispanics have been bracketed within the same ethnic group, but there are differences between Hispanics from Spain and those from Latin America, not to mention other Spanish-speaking populations.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics, severity, activity, damage, mortality and co-morbidity of SLE in Hispanics belonging to the two ethnic groups resident in Spain, and to identify any differences.

Genetic variation at the glycosaminoglycan metabolism pathway contributes to the risk of psoriatic arthritis but not psoriasis.

Objective: Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a chronic inflammatory arthritis affecting up to 30% of patients with psoriasis (Ps). To date, most of the known risk loci for PsA are shared with Ps, and identifying disease-specific variation has proven very challenging. The objective of the present study was to identify genetic variation specific for PsA.

Genome-wide association study meta-analysis identifies five new loci for systemic lupus erythematosus.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common systemic autoimmune disease with a complex genetic inheritance. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have significantly increased the number of significant loci associated with SLE risk. To date, however, established loci account for less than 30% of the disease heritability and additional risk variants have yet to be identified.

Methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Spain: Subanalysis of the AR Excellence project.

Objective: The AR Excellence project evaluates clinical monitoring in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Spain. The aim of the study was to analyze the use of methotrexate (MTX) in the AR Excellence cohort and to compare it with current recommendations.

Patients And Methods: We collected data from RA patients who initiated treatment with MTX.

A composite indicator to assess the quality of care in the management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in outpatient rheumatology clinics.

Objective: The current guidelines in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) include the early diagnosis and early use of disease modifying drugs to achieve remission or low disease activity level, known as "Treat to Target" (T2T). The objective of this study is to develop a composite indicator (CI) to evaluate the quality of care in the management of patients with RA, according to the T2T strategy and other general recommendations concerning the management of these patients.

Material And Method: The phases of the construction of the CI were: 1) selection of quality criteria through expert judgment; 2) prioritization of the criteria, according to relevance and feasibility, applying the Delphi methodology (two rounds) involving 20 experts; 3) design of quality indicators; and 4) calculation of the weighted CI, using the mean value in relevance and feasibility granted by the experts.

Clinical relevance of circulating anti-ENA and anti-dsDNA secreting cells from SLE patients and their dependence on STAT-3 activation.

Disturbances of plasma cell homeostasis and auto-antibody production are hallmarks of systemic lupus erythematosus. The aim of this study was to explore the presence of circulating anti-ENA and anti-dsDNA antibody-secreting cells, to determine their dependence on plasma cell-niche cytokines and to analyze their clinical value. The study was performed in SLE patients with serum anti-ENA and/or anti-dsDNA antibodies (n = 57).

Incidence, associated factors and clinical impact of severe infections in a large, multicentric cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: To estimate the incidence of severe infection and investigate the associated factors and clinical impact in a large systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) retrospective cohort.

Methods: All patients in the Spanish Rheumatology Society Lupus Registry (RELESSER) who meet ≥4 ACR-97 SLE criteria were retrospectively investigated for severe infections. Patients with and without infections were compared in terms of SLE severity, damage, comorbidities, and demographic characteristics.

Biologic Disease-modifying antirheumatic drug attributes in the first lines of treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. 2015 ACORDAR project.

Objective: To date, between 17% and 35% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) do not respond as expected to the initial biological therapy. The objective of this project is to recognize and weigh the attributes of biologic DMARD (bDMARD) to identify the most appropriate for each case, in the first lines of treatment of RA (after inadequate response to at least one synthetic DMARD or previous bDMARD).

Methods: To recognize the possible attributes that could define the bDMARD, we performed a systematic search of the literature that recognized the possible attributes involving general aspects, pharmacology, efficacy, safety, management, and cost.

Relationship between damage clustering and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus in early and late stages of the disease: cluster analyses in a large cohort from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry.

Objectives: To identify patterns (clusters) of damage manifestations within a large cohort of SLE patients and evaluate the potential association of these clusters with a higher risk of mortality.

Methods: This is a multicentre, descriptive, cross-sectional study of a cohort of 3656 SLE patients from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Registry. Organ damage was ascertained using the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics Damage Index.

Quality standards for rheumatology outpatient clinic. The EXTRELLA project.

Introduction: In recent years, outpatient clinics have undergone extensive development. At present, patients with rheumatic diseases are mainly assisted in this area. However, the quality standards of care are poorly documented.

A deletion at ADAMTS9-MAGI1 locus is associated with psoriatic arthritis risk.

Objective: Copy number variants (CNVs) have been associated with the risk to develop multiple autoimmune diseases. Our objective was to identify CNVs associated with the risk to develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA) using a genome-wide analysis approach.

Methods: A total of 835 patients with PsA and 1498 healthy controls were genotyped for CNVs using the Illumina HumanHap610 BeadChip genotyping platform.

Comprehensive description of clinical characteristics of a large systemic lupus erythematosus cohort from the Spanish Rheumatology Society Lupus Registry (RELESSER) with emphasis on complete versus incomplete lupus differences.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by multiple organ involvement and pronounced racial and ethnic heterogeneity. The aims of the present work were (1) to describe the cumulative clinical characteristics of those patients included in the Spanish Rheumatology Society SLE Registry (RELESSER), focusing on the differences between patients who fulfilled the 1997 ACR-SLE criteria versus those with less than 4 criteria (hereafter designated as incomplete SLE (iSLE)) and (2) to compare SLE patient characteristics with those documented in other multicentric SLE registries.RELESSER is a multicenter hospital-based registry, with a collection of data from a large, representative sample of adult patients with SLE (1997 ACR criteria) seen at Spanish rheumatology departments.

PDE3A-SLCO1C1 locus is associated with response to anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy in psoriatic arthritis.

Aim: Variation at PDE3A-SLCO1C1 locus has been recently associated with the response to anti-TNF therapy in rheumatoid arthritis. We undertook the present study to determine whether PDE3A-SLCO1C1 is also associated with the response to anti-TNF therapy in psoriatic arthritis. Patients & methods: Genomic DNA was obtained from 81 psoriatic arthritis patients that had been treated with anti-TNF therapy.

Myelitis transverse in Sjögren's syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus: presentation of 3 cases.

Transverse myelitis is a rare focal inflammation of the spinal cord. Multiple etiologies have been identified including autoimmune diseases, mainly systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren' syndrome. It can occur in an acute or subacute clinical onset, with the acute presentation having a worse prognosis.

Risk variants for psoriasis vulgaris in a large case-control collection and association with clinical subphenotypes.

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified >20 new loci associated with the susceptibility to psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) risk. We investigated the association of PsV and its main clinical subphenotypes with 32 loci having previous genome-wide evidence of association with PsV (P < 5e-8) or strong GWAS evidence (P < 5e-5 in discovery and P < 0.05 in replication sample) in a large cohort of PsV patients (n = 2005) and controls (n = 1497).

Multicenter longitudinal study of B-lymphocyte depletion in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus: the LESIMAB study.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of single and repeated courses of rituximab in patients with refractory lupus.

Methods: LESIMAB is a multicenter, retrospective, longitudinal study of lupus patients who have not responded to standard therapy and have been treated with rituximab. Response rates at six months and at follow-up were defined as efficacy outcomes.

Pyoderma gangrenosum associated with inflammatory bowel disease. Report of two cases with good response to infliximab.

Among the extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) often poses a therapeutic challenge. We describe two cases of PG associated with inflammatory bowel disease, who responded to treatment with Infliximab.