Publications by authors named "Soraia Azevedo"
Transient osteoporosis of the hip (TOH) is an important but often neglected cause of hip pain, which can gradually lead to debilitating mobility and carries risks such as fracture or avascular necrosis. A 39-year-old woman presented to the Rheumatology department two weeks post-cesarean delivery, reporting the onset of left mechanical hip pain since the 33rd week of pregnancy. After delivery, similar complaints emerged on the right side.
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- The study investigates the long-term effects of delaying the start of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) on clinical remission, physical disability, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
- It includes 361 adult JIA patients from a Portuguese register, categorizing them based on the time between disease onset and bDMARD initiation into three groups: ≤2 years, 2-5 years, and >5 years.
- Results indicate that starting bDMARDs more than 5 years after disease onset is linked to lower chances of achieving remission without medication, increased physical disability, poorer HRQoL scores, and more joint surgeries
Article Synopsis
- A study in Portugal aimed to identify barriers to pediatric rheumatology referrals from family doctors and pediatricians, revealing insufficient education and uneven access as key issues.
- Out of 292 survey responses, only 12% had received specific training on pediatric rheumatology, with pediatricians reporting more experience in referring patients compared to family doctors.
- The findings highlighted the need for improved education and training as the most effective way to enhance referral patterns, as many doctors opted for alternative specialties rather than pediatric rheumatology.
Aim: To assess the predictive factors for a subsequent fragility fracture (FF) and mortality.
Methods: Retrospective monocentric study including patients observed at the emergency department (ED) of a referral hospital with a FF, between 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2018. Fractures events were identified through discharge codes using the 9th International Classification of Diseases codes and FF were adjudicated after revision of the clinical files.
Objective: To update the recommendations for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with biological and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs and tsDMARDs), endorsed by the Portuguese Society of Rheumatology (SPR).
Methods: These treatment recommendations were formulated by Portuguese rheumatologists taking into account previous recommendations, new literature evidence and consensus opinion. At a national meeting, in a virtual format, three of the ten previous recommendations were re-addressed and discussed after a more focused literature review.
Objective: To identify predictive factors of relapse after discontinuation of Methotrexate (MTX) in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) patients with inactive disease.
Methods: We conducted a prospective multicenter cohort study of patients diagnosed with JIA using real world data from the Portuguese national register database, Reuma.pt.
Objective: To compare physical disability, mental health, fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) across juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) categories in adulthood and between JIA and adult-onset rheumatic diseases.
Methods: Cross-sectional analysis nested in a cohort of adult patients with JIA registered in the Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register (Reuma.pt).
Introduction: Nerve compression by anomalous masses located at the wrist and distal forearm is an infrequent condition. They may compress underlying structures in the carpal tunnel region, causing pain and paresthesias, which leads to the wrong diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Clinical Cases: We present three cases of patients with symptomatology and clinical tests compatible with compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel but whose physical examination showed a soft mass in the distal region of the forearm which was compressing the median nerve, as demonstrated by ultrasound evaluation.
Background: Patients' objectives and experiences must be core to the study and management of chronic diseases, such as SSc. Although patient-reported outcomes are attracting increasing attention, evaluation of the impact of disease on the overall subjective well-being, equivalent to 'happiness', is remarkably lacking.
Objectives: To examine the determinants of happiness and quality of life in patients with SSc, with emphasis on disease features and personality traits.
Coexistence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is rare (Sy et al. in Semin Arthritis Rheum 45:475-482, 2016). Nevertheless, we present a case of an AAV in a 53-year-old female with enteropathic spondylarthritis previously treated with tumor necrosis factor α inhibitors (TNFi).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Characterization of sociodemographic and clinical aspects of patients admitted to the Orthopedic Department (OD) after observation in the Emergency Room (ER) with the diagnosis of septic arthritis (SA).
Material And Methods: A retrospective, monocentric, cross-sectional study was conducted. Sociodemographic and clinical data on patients admitted to the OD with suspected SA between April 2014 and September 2019 were collected.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigated the effectiveness of two predictive tools for determining remission and low disease activity (LDA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were treated with anti-TNF therapy.
- Conducted as a multicenter observational study in Portugal, it analyzed data from 674 biologically naïve RA patients over a minimum of 6 months, noting a median patient age of 53.4 years and a disease duration of 7.7 years.
- Results showed the predictive tools had good accuracy, with an area under the curve of 0.756 for remission and 0.724 for LDA, suggesting that these tools could aid in treatment decision-making for RA patients.
Background And Objective: The number of older patients with rheumatoid arthritis is increasing, but data on drug effectiveness and safety in these patients are scarce. This study assessed the effectiveness and safety of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in older patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Methods: This prospective cohort study was based on data recorded in the Rheumatic Diseases Portuguese Register (Reuma.
Objective: To evaluate and describe the strategies of Portuguese rheumatologists and paediatricians, regarding either the maintenance or the withdrawal of classic and biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (cDMARDs and bDMARDs, respectively), when patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) achieved clinical inactive disease (CID).
Methods: We performed a 30-question questionnaire, which was sent to all the 35 clinicians enrolled in the Portuguese group of paediatric rheumatology.
Results: Twenty-three complete responses were obtained.
Article Synopsis
- Erasmus syndrome (ErS) is diagnosed when Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) appears after silica exposure, and this study aimed to determine its prevalence, characterize the cases, and compare clinical features between affected patients and those without silica exposure.
- The study was cross-sectional and included 48 SSc patients from a specific department, gathering data through interviews about their professional history and potential silica exposure.
- Results showed that 16.7% of the patients had ErS, with all cases being male, highlighting a significant link between male gender and the prevalence of ErS.