[What scientific evidence do the current classifications have in order to assess occupational disability in patients with central sensitisation syndrome?] / ¿Qué evidencia científica tienen los métodos propuestos para valorar la discapacidad laboral de los pacientes con síndrome de sensibilización central?

Central sensitisation syndrome includes disorders such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple chemical sensitivity, and electromagnetic sensitivity syndrome. These disorders have been acquiring both medical and social relevance due to the increase in prevalence, the absence of a curative treatment, the limitations they cause, and the high healthcare costs they involve. Furthermore, all of them share an unknown aetiology and the absence of objective parameters to establish their diagnosis and severity. Multiple methods and classifications have been proposed to graduate the disability of these patients, but currently none of them have obtained sufficient evidence.

[Epidemiological characteristics of patients evaluated with fibromyalgia in the Assessment of Disability Unit of Madrid]. / Características epidemiológicas de los pacientes evaluados por fibromialgia en la Unidad Médica de Valoración de Incapacidades de Madrid.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the epidemiological characteristics of patients with fibromyalgia requiring assessment of incapacity for work. METHOD: A descriptive study was conducted on the patients evaluated in the Medical Unit of the National Institute of Social Security in Madrid in the period from 2005 to 2014 with the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. A study was made on the variables: age, sex, marital status, comorbidity (hypothyroidism, neck pain, psychiatric disorders, and carpal tunnel syndrome), professional occupation, level of education, and type of affiliation to the National Institute of Social Security. RESULT: The total number of patients studied was 5,501. The median age was 53 years. Compared to the general working population in our area there were 47% more women, 12% less married people, 25% less workers with higher education, and 23% more unskilled occupations. As regards the working population in our area, there is a markedly increased prevalence of neck pain (prevalence ratio: 2.0), hypothyroidism (prevalence ratio 2.4), and carpal tunnel syndrome (prevalence ratio: 3.0). More than half (58%) of the sample presented with psychiatric disorders. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the profile of the patient with fibromyalgia assessed in the UMEVI is a woman, aged 46-60 years, mostly with a relatively unskilled job, and with primary level education. More than half of the cases had associated psychiatric disorders, and often associated with neck pain diagnoses, carpal tunnel syndrome, and hypothyroidism.

Economic benefits of bariatric surgery.

With the high prevalence of obesity and associated comorbidities, the costs of health services produce a great economic impact. The objective of this work was to evaluate the economic benefits of bariatric surgery and to relate the costs to the impact on the health of the individual. A historic cohort study was conducted, with review of medical charts of 194 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria for the study. The costs for medications, professional care, and examinations in the pre- and postoperative periods were analyzed, taking into consideration the comorbidities DM2, SAH, and dyslipidemia. The study demonstrated a reduction in the medical costs in the course of the postoperative period, in relation to expenses for medications, professional care, and examinations in the preoperative period. Comparing the preoperative expenses with different times in the postoperative period, a statistically significant difference was seen at all time evaluated (p < 0.001). The resolution of comorbidities was higher than 95% at 36 months after surgery. No statistically significant difference was seen with respect to the prevalence of comorbidities between the sexes in the pre- and postoperative periods (p > 0.05). With regard to age, younger patients showed lower rates of comorbidities in the pre- and postoperative periods (p < 0.001). The costs of the surgery are high, but the expenditures for medications, professional care, and examinations decrease progressively after the operation, where this is more evident in patients with more associated comorbidities.

[Mortality predictive factors of a clinical cohort of elderly patients]. / Factores predictores de mortalidad de una cohorte clínica de pacientes ancianos.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between the main variables collected in the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and mortality, in a clinical cohort of elderly people referred from primary care, following standardised criteria, to a geriatric unit. Design. Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Outpatient department of a geriatric unit of a hospital in Madrid, Spain. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 140 patients older than 65 years were followed up for 70 months. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: We collected demographic, clinical, functional, and social variables during the CGA carried out by a multidisciplinary team. After 70 months we measured this cohort survival and we analysed the predictive factors for mortality using Cox hazard ratio analysis. RESULTS. Sixty three patients died after the 70 months of the study, and the survival median was 37 months. In the univariate analysis, age, male gender, diagnosed cancer, COPD, the Katz and Lawton indices, and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 35 items, were significantly associated with mortality. In the multivariate analysis we found, as predictive factors for mortality: MMSE-35 (HR=0.965; 95% CI, 0.934-0.998; P=.037); male gender (HR=2.75; 95% CI, 1.6-4.74; P=.001); Katz score (HR=1.22; 95% CI, 1.04-1.43; P=.017); Lawton score (HR=0.93; 95% CI, 0.82-1.07; P=.30). CONCLUSION: Cognitive impairment is a mortality predictive factor (HR=0.65), for each point less in the MMSE-35, we observed an increase in mortality risk of 3.5% (1-HR) at 70 months, after adjustment for Katz and Lawton index and gender.

Factores predictores de mortalidad de una cohorte clínica de pacientes ancianos / Mortality predictive factors of a clinical cohort of elderly patients

Objetivo. Estudiar la asociación entre las principales variables recogidas en la valoración geriátrica exhaustiva (VGE) y la mortalidad en una cohorte clínica de ancianos remitidos desde atención primaria, según criterios protocolizados, a una unidad de geriatría. Diseño. Estudio de cohorte clínica histórica. Emplazamiento. Consulta de la unidad de valoración geriátrica de un hospital de Madrid. Participantes. Un total de 140 pacientes > 65 años seguidos durante 70 meses. Mediciones principales. Se recogieron variables demogáficas, clínicas, funcionales y sociales durante la VGE realizada por un equipo multidisciplinario. Al cabo de 70 meses se valororó la supervivencia de esta cohorte y se analizaron los factores pronósticos de mortalidad mediante la técnica de riesgos proporcionales de Cox. Resultados. El 45% (n = 63) de los pacientes había fallecido tras los 70 meses del estudio, con una mediana de seguimiento de 37 meses. En el análisis univariable, la edad, el sexo masculino, el diagnóstico de neoplasia o enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica, los índices de Katz y de Lawton y el Mini-Examen Cognoscitivo (MEC-35) se asociaron significativamente con mortalidad. En el análisis multivariable se mantuvieron como variables pronósticas de mortalidad: el MEC-35 (hazard ratio [HR] = 0,965; intervalo de confianza [IC] del 95%, 0,934-0,998; p = 0,037), el sexo masculino (HR = 2,75; IC del 95%, 1,6-4,74; p = 0,001), el índice de Katz (HR = 1,22; IC del 95%, 1,04-1,43; p = 0,017) y el índice de Lawton (HR = 0,93; IC del 95%, 0,82-1,07; p = 0,30). Conclusión. El deterioro cognitivo es un factor predictor de mortalidad (HR = 0,965), de manera que por cada punto de disminución del MEC-35 el riesgo de mortalidad a los 70 meses, ajustado por el sexo y los índices de Katz y Lawton, aumentará un 3,5% (1 ­ HR)

Objective. To study the association between the main variables collected in the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) and mortality, in a clinical cohort of elderly people referred from primary care, following standardised criteria, to a geriatric unit. Design. Retrospective cohort study. Setting. Outpatient department of a geriatric unit of a hospital in Madrid, Spain. Participants. A total of 140 patients older than 65 years were followed up for 70 months. Main measurements. We collected demographic, clinical, functional, and social variables during the CGA carried out by a multidisciplinary team. After 70 months we measured this cohort survival and we analysed the predictive factors for mortality using Cox hazard ratio analysis. Results. Sixty three patients died after the 70 months of the study, and the survival median was 37 months. In the univariate analysis, age, male gender, diagnosed cancer, COPD, the Katz and Lawton indices, and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 35 items, were significantly associated with mortality. In the multivariate analysis we found, as predictive factors for mortality: MMSE-35 (HR=0.965; 95% CI, 0.934-0.998; P=.037); male gender (HR=2.75; 95% CI, 1.6-4.74; P=.001); Katz score (HR=1.22; 95% CI, 1.04-1.43; P=.017); Lawton score (HR=0.93; 95% CI, 0.82-1.07; P=.30). Conclusion. Cognitive impairment is a mortality predictive factor (HR=0.65), for each point less in the MMSE-35, we observed an increase in mortality risk of 3.5% (1­HR) at 70 months, after adjustment for Katz and Lawton index and gender

Identification of an E-selectin region critical for carbohydrate recognition and cell adhesion.

E-selectin elicits cell adhesion by binding to the cell surface carbohydrate, sialyl Lewis X (sLe(x)). We evaluated the effects of mutations in the E-selectin lectin domain on the binding of a panel of anti-E-selectin mAbs and on the recognition of immobilized sLe(x) glycolipid. Functional residues were then superimposed onto a three-dimensional model of the E-selectin lectin domain. This analysis demonstrated that the epitopes recognized by blocking mAbs map to a patch near the antiparallel beta sheet derived from the NH2 and COOH termini of the lectin domain and two adjacent loops. Mutations that affect sLe(x) binding map to this same region. These results thus define a small region of the E-selectin lectin domain that is critical for carbohydrate recognition.