[The fasciitis-polyarthritis syndrome]. / Síndrome de fascitis-poliartritis.

A 56 years old woman showed polyarthritis with thickness and retraction of the palmar fascia: 5 months later an undifferentiated ovarian carcinoma was diagnosed. Symptoms improved when antineoplastic chemotherapy was started. This has been called fasciitis-polyarthritis syndrome. Cases published on the scientific literature are reviewed, discussion their etiopathology and the possibility of establishing an early diagnosis of neoplasia through the finding of this association.

[Antiphospholipid antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus: incidence, significance and relation to lupus nephritis]. / Anticuerpos antifosfolípidos en el lupus eritematoso sistémico: incidencia, significación y relación con la nefritis lúpica.

The prevalence of three different types of antiphospholipid antibody in 88 consecutive patients with systemic lupus were 27.2% for lupus anticoagulant (LAC), 31.8% for anticardiolipin antibody (aCL), and 13.6% for falsely positive serologic tests for syphilis (FPSTS). The three tests were correlated, thus confirming the overlapping specificities of this family of antibodies. Although FPSTS was not associated with any particular manifestation of systemic lupus, aCL correlated with thrombosis (p = 0.0001), thrombopenia (p = 0.009), neuropsychiatric features (p = 0.02) and membranous nephropathy (p = 0.001), while LAC correlated with thrombosis (p = 0.001) and hemolytic anemia (p = 0.04). The previously unreported association between membranous nephropathy and aCL might explain some features of the former, particularly the higher incidence of thromboembolic complications and the poorly known relation with renal vein thrombosis.