Primary Sjögren's syndrome: Extraglandular manifestations and hydroxychloroquine therapy.

The use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome (pSS) has been assessed in different studies over the last years, with conflicting results regarding its efficacy in sicca syndrome and extraglandular manifestations (EGM). The goal of this study was to compare the incidence rate of EGM in pSS patients with and without HCQ therapy.We performed a multicenter retrospective study, including patients with pSS (European classification criteria) with at least 1 year of follow-up. Subjects with concomitant fibromyalgia, autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis were excluded. Demographics and pSS characteristics were recorded. The EGM were defined by EULAR-SS disease activity index (ESSDAI). Patients were divided into two groups according to their use or not of HCQ therapy. We evaluated the use of HCQ and its relationship to EGM. HCQ therapy was defined as the continuous use of the drug for at least 3 months. A descriptive analysis of demographics and pSS characteristics was performed. We compared the incidence of EGM between groups defined by HCQ therapy using chi2 test or Fisher's exact test. A total of 221 patients were included (97.3% women), mean age, 55.7 years (SD 14). Mean age at diagnosis, 48.8 years (SD 15); median disease duration, 60 months (IQR 35-84). One hundred and seventy patients (77%) received HCQ. About half of the patients had at least one EGM during the course of the disease, 20% of them developed an EGM before the onset of the sicca syndrome and 26% simultaneously with dryness symptom. Overall, EGM were less frequent in those on HCQ therapy (36.5% vs 63.5%, p < 0.001). Considering each EGM individually, the following manifestations were more frequent in the non-treated group: arthritis (p < 0.001), fatigue (p < 0.001), purpura (p = 0.01), Raynaud phenomenon (p = 0.003), and hypergammaglobulinemia (p = 0.006). Immunosuppressive treatment was indicated on 28 patients (12.7%), 13 of which were receiving also HCQ. The first reason for those treatments was the presence of arthritis in 12/28 patients (42.8%), and the drug used in all the cases was methotrexate. Only three patients required immunosuppressive therapy with cyclophosphamide, due to the presence of glomerulonephritis, vasculitis, and interstitial lung disease. None of the patients received biologic therapy. The lower incidence of EGM was observed in patients on HCQ therapy supports its efficacy in pSS. However, further large scale prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Monoterapia biológica en pacientes con artritis reumatoidea en Argentina / Biological monotherapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Argentina

Introducción: La utilización de agentes biológicos para el tratamiento de la Artritis Reumatoidea (AR) es habitualmente usada en aquellos pacientes con enfermedad activa que no hayan respondido al tratamiento con drogas modificadoras de la Artritis Reumatoidea convencionales (DMARD, por sus siglas en inglés) o que hayan presentado intolerancia a las mismas. Al estado actual de la evidencia, la terapia combinada de agentes biológicos más un DMARD convencional (principalmente metotrexato) constituye el estándar de tratamiento. Sin embargo existen algunos escenarios como la intolerancia, la falta de adherencia y la aparición de eventos adversos a las DMARDs convencionales donde la monoterapia biológica emerge como una opción terapéutica válida. Según los distintos registros a nivel internacional, la frecuencia de utilización de agentes biológicos en monoterapia oscila entre 12 a 39%. Debido a la ausencia de estos datos a nivel local decidimos realizar este estudio para conocer el porcentaje de pacientes que se encuentran en monoterapia biológica y analizar las causas que llevaron a este tipo de tratamiento. Materiales y métodos: Estudio de tipo corte transversal donde se invitó a participar a diferentes centros reumatológicos distribuidos a lo largo de Argentina. Cada centro revisó las historias clínicas de los últimos 30 a 50 pacientes consecutivos vistos con AR, mayores de 18 años, que habían presentado inadecuada respuesta al tratamiento con DMARDs y que estaban bajo tratamiento biológico. Se completaba una ficha por cada paciente incluido, registrando datos demográficos, de la enfermedad y tratamientos previos. Resultados: Se incluyeron 32 centros y se evaluaron 1148 historias clínicas de pacientes con AR durante el mes de octubre y noviembre del 2012. Un 21,4% (246) de los pacientes al momento del estudio se encontraba bajo tratamiento biológico en monoterapia...

Introduction: The use of biological agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is commonly used in patients with active disease who have not responded to treatment with conventional rheumatoid arthritis-modifying drugs (DMARDs) or Who have presented intolerance to them. At the present state of evidence, combined therapy of biological agents plus conventional DMARD (mainly methotrexate) is the standard of treatment. However, there are some scenarios such as intolerance, lack of adherence and the appearance of adverse events to conventional DMARDs where biological monotherapy emerges as a valid therapeutic option. According to different international registries, the frequency of use of biological agents in monotherapy ranges from 12 to 39%. Due to the absence of these data at the local level we decided to carry out this study to know the percentage of patients who are in biological monotherapy and to analyze the causes that led to this type of treatment. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study where different rheumatologic centers throughout Argentina were invited to participate. Each center reviewed the medical records of the last 30 to 50 consecutive patients seen with RA, older than 18 years, who had inadequate response to treatment with DMARDs and who were under biological treatment. One card was completed for each patient included, recording demographic, disease and previous treatment data. Results: Thirty-two centers were included and 1148 clinical records of patients with RA were evaluated during October and November 2012. A total of 244 patients (246) at the time of the study were under monotherapy...

Registro Iberoamericano de Espondiloartritis (RESPONDIA): Argentina / RESPONDIA. Iberoamerican spondyloarthritis Registry: Argentina

Objetivo: Describir las principales características de las espondiloartritis (SpA) en la población argentina. Material y métodos: Se realizó un análisis descriptivo y transversal de la información recogida entre marzo y diciembre de 2007 y almacenada en línea, en la página electrónica del grupo Registro de Espondiloartritis de la Sociedad Española de Reumatología (REGISPONSER). Participaron 11 centros de Argentina, siguiendo todos similares pautas de evaluación del paciente y de registro de datos. Resultados: Se incluyó a 405 pacientes con SpA, 238 varones (59%), con una edad media desviación estándar de 48,1 15,7 años y un tiempo de evolución medio de la enfermedad de 10,9 9,5 años. La artritis psoriásica (APs) fue el diagnóstico prevalente (46,7%), y siguiendo en orden de frecuencia estaban la espondilitis anquilosante (EA) (30,3%) y la SpA indiferenciada (12,4%). La edad al inicio fue de 38,4 16,6 años y el tiempo de evolución hasta el diagnóstico fue de 7,5 8,6 años. Los síntomas de inicio más frecuentes fueron artritis periférica (66%), lumbalgia (54%) y sacroileítis (39%). El 43% presentó dactilitis y el 10%, uveítis durante la evolución de la enfermedad. El tratamiento incluyó inhibidores del factor de necrosis tumoral en un 10,4% de los pacientes. El BASDAI promedio fue de 4 2,5 puntos y el BASFI, de 3,3 2,9 puntos. Los pacientes con EA presentaron una edad menor, más discapacidad laboral, más dolor, una afectación axial mayor y más daño radiológico que los pacientes con APs. Regis Conclusión: Los pacientes de Argentina con SpA presentan las clásicas características de afectación axial y periférica, y con frecuencia presentan manifestaciones extraarticulares (AU)

Objective: To describe the principal characteristics of spondyloarthritis in the Argentina population. Material and methods: A descriptive transversal study was carried out with information obtained between March and December 2007 and stored online at the Spondyloarthropathy Records website of the Spanish Society for Rheumatology (REGISPONSER). Eleven Argentine Centers participated and they all adopted similar criteria to assess patients and data were collected in the same database. Results: A total of 405 patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) were included: 238 were males (59%) with an average age standard deviation 48.1 15.7 years and an average disease progress of 10.9 9.5 years. The majority was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) (46.7%), followed by ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (30.3%) and undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (U-SpA) (12.4%). Average age at onset was 38.4 16.6 years and time until diagnosis was 7.5 8.6 years. The most common initial symptoms were peripheral arthritis (66%), lumbago (54%) and sacroiliitis (39%). 43% of these patients presented dactylitis and 10% uveitis during the disease Obj progress. TNF inhibitor treatment was administered in 10.4% of the patients. Average BASDAI score was 4 2.5 and BASFI 3.3 2.9. Patients with ankylosing spondylitis were younger, showed a higher incapacity for work, felt more pain and presented more axial disorders and more evidence of radiologic damage than psoriatic arthritis patients. Conclusion. Argentina spondyloarthritis patients presented classical characteristics of axial and peripheral disorders and extraarticular symptoms were common (AU)

Influencia de factores sociodemográficos en actividad de enfermedad, estadofuncional y calidad de vida de pacientes con artritis psoriásica / Influence of sociodemographic features on clinical manifestations, disease activity, functional status and quality of life of patients with psoriatic artritis

Objetivo: Determinar la influencia de factores sociodemográficos en las manifestaciones clínicas, actividad de la enfermedad, estado funcional y calidad de vida de pacientes con artritis psoriásica (APs). Métodos: Se incluyeron 148 pacientes con APs reclutados de varios centros de reumatología de Argentina. Se determinaron factores sociodemográficos: edad, sexo, raza, nivel de educación, fuentes de ingreso personal, escala de Graffar y clases sociales. Al inicio de la enfermedad se evaluaron las siguientes variables: edad al inicio, duración de la enfermedad, manifestaciones clínicas y forma clínica de presentación. La actividad de la enfermedad fue evaluada mediante número de articulaciones activas, escala visual análoga (EVA) global del paciente y BASDAI. El estado funcional y la calidad de vida de los pacientes se determinó por medio de BASFI, ASQoL y SF-12 (Versión 1.0). Para el análisis estadístico de los datos obtenidos se utilizó test de Chi-cuadrado, test exacto de Fisher y test de Kruskal-Wallis. Resultados: De los 148 pacientes, 58,8% fueron mujeres con una edad media al inicio de la enfermedad de 53,2 ± 13,6 años y una duración media de enfermedad de 9,3 ± 8,9 años. La edad al inicio, el sexo, la raza y la escala de Graffar no estuvieron asociados con manifestaciones clínicas, actividad de la enfermedad, estado funcional y calidad de vida

Systemic lupus erythematosus: mortality and survival in Argentina. A multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the factors associated with mortality, survival and causes of death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Argentina. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A series of 366 patients with SLE (45 men and 321 women), mean age 29 y (range 11-70 y) and mean disease duration 6 y, was evaluated from 1990 to 1998. A total of 57 clinical, serological and therapeutic variables were studied. RESULTS: Five- and 10-year survival was 91% and 85% respectively. Forty four patients died (12%): 54% due to sepsis and 32% due to active SLE. Mortality risk factors included heart involvement CRR 3.82), hyperlipidemia (RR 2.72), renal damage (RR 2. 62), infections (RR 2.44), lung disease (RR 2.20) and myositis (RR 2. 07). High-dose prednisone (RR 3.4) or cyclophosphamide (RR 9.19) treatments increased the risk of sepsis (P=0.003) as a cause of death. However, corticosteroids, antimalarial agents and accumulated cyclophosphamide doses proved to be protective factors in overall mortality figures (RR <1). CONCLUSIONS: The main risk factors of death in SLE were heart involvement, hyperlipidemia and renal damage. Treatment with steroids, antimalarial agents and cyclophosphamide improved survival. High-dose corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide were associated with sepsis as a cause of death.