Optimisation of tocilizumab therapy in giant cell arteritis. A multicentre real-life study of 471 patients.

Objectives: Tocilizumab (TCZ) is the only biologic therapy approved for giant cell arteritis (GCA). There is general agreement on the initial/maintenance dose, duration of TCZ therapy is not well established. In GiACTA trial, after one year on TCZ, most patients had GCA relapse after withdrawal.

Tocilizumab in visual involvement of giant cell arteritis: a multicenter study of 471 patients.

Background: Visual involvement is the most feared complication of giant cell arteritis (GCA). Information on the efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ) for this complication is scarce and controversial.

Objective: We assessed a wide series of GCA treated with TCZ, to evaluate its role in the prevention of new visual complications and its efficacy when this manifestation was already present before the initiation of TCZ.

Antimalarials exert a cardioprotective effect in lupus patients: Insights from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology Lupus Register (RELESSER) analysis of factors associated with heart failure.

Background/objectives: Factors associated with chronic heart failure (CHF) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have received little attention. Recent data on the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection have cast doubt on its cardiac safety. The factors associated with CHF, including therapy with antimalarials, were analyzed in a large multicenter SLE cohort.

Tocilizumab in giant cell arteritis: differences between the GiACTA trial and a multicentre series of patients from the clinical practice.

Objectives: A potential point of concern among clinicians is whether results derived from the clinical trials can be reasonably applied or generalised to a definable group of patients seen in real world. It can be the case of the GiACTA study that is a phase III randomised controlled trial of tocilizumab (TCZ) in giant cell arteritis (GCA). To address this question, we compared the clinical features and the responses to TCZ from the GiACTA trial patients with those from a series of GCA seen in the daily clinical practice.

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.

Randomized Controlled Trial Assessing the Impact of Tacrolimus Versus Cyclosporine on the Incidence of Posttransplant Diabetes Mellitus.

Introduction: Despite the high incidence of posttransplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM) among high-risk recipients, no studies have investigated its prevention by immunosuppression optimization.

Methods: We conducted an open-label, multicenter, randomized trial testing whether a tacrolimus-based immunosuppression and rapid steroid withdrawal (SW) within 1 week (Tac-SW) or cyclosporine A (CsA) with steroid minimization (SM) (CsA-SM), decreased the incidence of PTDM compared with tacrolimus with SM (Tac-SM). All arms received basiliximab and mycophenolate mofetil.

SEOM Clinical Guideline update for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (2016).

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is one of the most worrisome adverse effects of chemotherapy for cancer patients. It can cause severe discomfort and affect the quality of life. In recent years, the incorporation of new drugs has increased the efficacy of antiemetic treatments in the control of emesis associated with chemotherapy.

Mineral metabolism disorders, vertebral fractures and aortic calcifications in stable kidney transplant recipients: The role of gender (EMITRAL study).

Background And Objectives: The relationship between mineral metabolism disorders, bone fractures and vascular calcifications in kidney transplant recipients has not been established.

Method: We performed a cross-sectional study in 727 stable recipients from 28 Spanish transplant clinics. Mineral metabolism parameters, the semi-quantification of vertebral fractures and abdominal aortic calcifications were determined centrally.

Tuberculosis in Anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor-treated Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients After the Implementation of Preventive Measures: Compliance With Recommendations and Safety of Retreatment.

Background And Aims: Despite having adopted preventive measures, tuberculosis (TB) may still occur in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treated with anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF). Data on the causes and characteristics of TB cases in this scenario are lacking. Our aim was to describe the characteristics of TB in anti-TNF-treated IBD patients after the publication of the Spanish TB prevention guidelines in IBD patients and to evaluate the safety of restarting anti-TNF after a TB diagnosis.

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.

Exercise echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to predict outcome in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Aims: We have observed that wall motion abnormalities (WMAs) during exercise echocardiography (ExE) are associated to events in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Our objective was to evaluate ExE and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to predict outcome in HCM.

Methods And Results: ExE and CMR were performed in 148 patients with HCM.

Factors that predict the development of bone metastases due to prostate cancer: Recommendations for follow-up and therapeutic options.

Context: Prostate cancer is a public health problem in Spain and in the Western world. Bone involvement, associated to significant morbidity, is practically constant in the advanced stages of the disease. This work aims to review the prognostic factors used in the usual clinical practice that predict the development of bone metastases and to analyze the follow-up and treatment option in these patient profiles.

Prognostic value of exercise echocardiography in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Although exercise echocardiography may assess left ventricular (LV) function and LV outflow tract (LVOT) gradients during exercise in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), its value for predicting outcomes has not been studied. The aim of this study was to determine whether exercise echocardiography predicts outcomes in patients with HCM.

Methods: LV function and LVOT gradients were evaluated during exercise echocardiography in 239 patients with HCM.

Influence of body mass index in the postoperative evolution after lung transplantation.

Objective: To study the influence of body mass index (BMI) on mortality and postoperative evolution in our 10-year experience as a lung transplant group.

Methods: The study included 256 lung transplants performed between June 1999 and June 2009. BMI was stratified into 4 groups (<20 kg/m2 underweight, 20-25 normal weight, 25-30 overweight, and >30 obese) for posttransplant mortality assessment (chi-square) in relation to age, gender, pathology, and transplant type (logistic regression).

Von Willebrand factor/factor VIII concentrates in the treatment of von Willebrand disease.

Therapy for von Willebrand disease (VWD) aims to restore the hemostatic function conferred by von Willebrand factor (VWF), which facilitates platelet adhesion and aggregation, and serves to increase potentially low coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) in plasma. In patients unresponsive to desmopressin (DDAVP), the preferred treatment is with plasma-derived VWF-containing FVIII concentrates. Only a few of the available VWF/FVIII concentrates have been licensed for use in VWD based on prospective studies.

Reoperation in the postoperative period of lung transplantation.

Background: Lung transplantation (LTx) has been established as the last treatment option in certain lung diseases. It is not uncommon for complications to occur that require urgent reoperation. The objective of our study was to analyze the characteristics of lung transplant patients who required reoperation in the postoperative period.

Results of "twinning procedure" in lung transplantation: experience in a single center.

Introduction: The major limiting factor for lung transplantation (LT), both worldwide and in Spain, is the number of suitable lung donors. This, together with the increased demand for LT, led us to propose the performance of 2 single lung transplantations simultaneously using the same donor (the "twinning procedure").

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyze the outcome of patients who underwent transplantation with this procedure, assessing differences between the first and the second transplant.

[Otic myiasis. Case report].

Otic myiasis is rare in developed countries and is related to environmental conditions and poor hygiene. We present the case of a 65-year-old woman with pain and tinnitus in the left ear lasting for one week. Physical examination in the emergency room showed numerous dipteran larvae totally occupying the external auditory canal.

[Primary bronchial plasmacytoma: computed tomography findings].

Extramedullary plasmacytomas are malignant neoplasms of the plasmatic cells of the soft tissues. Primary pulmonary plasmacytoma is the rarest type of extramedullary plasmacytoma. The radiologic findings are unspecific and the diagnosis is histologic.

Autosomal dominant C1149R von Willebrand disease: phenotypic findings and their implications.

Background: Mutation C1149R in the von Willebrand factor (VWF) gene has been thought to cause autosomal dominant severe type 1 von Willebrand disease (VWD).

Design And Methods: Eight patients from three unrelated families with this mutation were included in the present study who had distinct VWF abnormalities, not described in earlier studies.

Results: The patients showed notably low levels of VWF antigen (VWF:Ag), VWF ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF:RCo), VWF collagen binding (VWF:CB), and a reduced ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation (RIPA).

Paraganglioma of the thyroid gland: a rare entity.

Paragangliomas are neuroendocrine tumors. The thyroid gland is one of the anatomic sites in which paraganglia are not normally located and are exceptionally rare. We report a case of a 36-year-old Hispanic woman with a soft mass measuring about 30 mm in the right thyroid lobe.