ABSTRACT
Abstract Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune systemic inflammatory disease. In addition to joint involvement, RA patients frequently have other comorbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases. Drugs used for RA treatment may increase or decrease the risk of a cardiovascular event. This study aims to analyze cardiovascular risk comorbidities in patients with RA and the correlation with the use of anti-rheumatic drugs. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted based on the real-life rheumatoid arthritis study database - REAL, a prospective observational cohort study. Associations between the use of anti-rheumatic drugs and the presence of comorbidities were represented by their prevalence ratio and evaluated using the Chi-square or Fisher's Exact tests. Results: We assessed 1116 patients, 89.4% women, mean age of 55.15 years and predominance of seropositive disease. 63.3% had some cardiovascular comorbidity, predominantly hypertension (49.9%). The use of glucocorticoids was observed in 47.4% of patients and there was a significant tendency of lower use of these drugs in the presence of dyslipidemia (PR: 0.790; p = 0.007). We observed that the presence of cardiovascular comorbidities was associated with higher use of bDMARDs (PR:1.147; p = 0.003). Conclusions: The presence of cardiovascular risk comorbidities was confirmed to be higher in RA patients. Different treatment strategies using less glucocorticoids in the presence of dyslipidemia and more common use of bDMARDs in patients with cardiovascular comorbidities suggest that rheumatologists are aware of the potential influence of the DMARDs in the risk of cardiovascular event. Reinforcing these results, we highlight the need for a better baseline assessment to guide the choice of anti-rheumatic drugs in RA patients who have comorbidities.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Surgery is the treatment of choice in locoregional thyroid neoplasia recurrence. The intense tissue healing process observed after surgery changes the neck anatomy, makes reoperation difficult, and interferes with surgical success. The use of the Radioguided Occult Lesion Localization (ROLL) technique has become a viable option to localize thyroid tumors. Objective: To analyze the use of the ROLL technique for the treatment of thyroid cancer recurrence with respect to its clinical, surgical and anatomopathological aspects. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study that analyzed 56 medical records and anatomopathological examinations of patients of both sexes who had thyroid neoplasms, underwent previous surgeries on this topography, and were submitted to the ROLL technique for recurrence removal from March 2011 to March 2019. Results: Most patients were women aged 46.05 years, on average. Papillary thyroid neoplasm was the most prevalent histological finding. In 100% of the cases, application of the ROLL technique identified and removed the lesions marked with suspicion for malignancy. Conclusion: Radioguided surgery has proved to be a very effective and safe tool to assist with lesion localization for the treatment of thyroid cancer recurrence. This technique has brought no additional side effects to patients, required minimal radiation and made surgery less invasive, reducing postoperative complication rates.