Computer aided volumetric assessment of orbital structures in patients with Graves' orbitopathy: correlation with serum thyroid antiperoxidase antibodies and disease activity

Introduction: Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder. Goiter and Graves' orbitopathy are frequently seen clinically. It would be helpful for the diagnosis, grading, prognosis, and treatment of this condition if it was possible to find serum biomarkers to establish a connection between the plasma levels of these compounds and orbital changes. Methods: A retrospective study was performed by revising the medical records of 44 patients with Graves' orbitopathy and 15 controls. The Osirix software (Pixmeo, Geneva, Switzerland) was used for manual orbital measurements. Plasma levels of Graves' orbitopathy substances were obtained in the analytical review of the patients. Results: A greater muscle volume was observed in patients with Graves' orbitopathy in relation to the control group (p < 0.001). The clinical activity score (CAS) was associated to total muscle mass (p = 0.013) and retrorbital fat (p = 0.048). Our results indicated a direct relationship between serum concentrations of anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies and inferior rectus thickening (p = 0.036); however, we did not observe a positive correlation between other muscle volumes and serum concentrations of various thyroid-related substances. Conclusions: This study is the first that uses Osirix measurement software to manually assess orbital features in patients with Graves' orbitopathy. These measurements were compared to the outcomes of tests performed in a laboratory. Among several serum biomarkers, anti-thyroid peroxidase appears to be a reliable biomarker that correlates positively with inferior rectus muscle thickness in patients with thyroid eye disease. This may help to improve the management of this diseaseOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was financially supported by ISCIII (RETICS RD16/0008/0003) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund—ERDF)S

Prevalence and clinical characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis with interstitial lung disease using unstructured healthcare data and machine learning

Artritis reumatoide; Epidemiologia; Fibrosi pulmonarRheumatoid arthritis; Epidemiology; Pulmonary fibrosisArtritis reumatoide; Epidemiología; Fibrosis pulmonarObjectives Real-world data regarding rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its association with interstitial lung disease (ILD) is still scarce. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of RA and ILD in patients with RA (RAILD) in Spain, and to compare clinical characteristics of patients with RA with and without ILD using natural language processing (NLP) on electronic health records (EHR). Methods Observational case–control, retrospective and multicentre study based on the secondary use of unstructured clinical data from patients with adult RA and RAILD from nine hospitals between 2014 and 2019. NLP was used to extract unstructured clinical information from EHR and standardise it into a SNOMED-CT terminology. Prevalence of RA and RAILD were calculated, and a descriptive analysis was performed. Characteristics between patients with RAILD and RA patients without ILD (RAnonILD) were compared. Results From a source population of 3 176 165 patients and 64 241 683 EHRs, 13 958 patients with RA were identified. Of those, 5.1% patients additionally had ILD (RAILD). The overall age-adjusted prevalence of RA and RAILD were 0.53% and 0.02%, respectively. The most common ILD subtype was usual interstitial pneumonia (29.3%). When comparing RAILD versus RAnonILD patients, RAILD patients were older and had more comorbidities, notably concerning infections (33.6% vs 16.5%, p<0.001), malignancies (15.9% vs 8.5%, p<0.001) and cardiovascular disease (25.8% vs 13.9%, p<0.001) than RAnonILD. RAILD patients also had higher inflammatory burden reflected in more pharmacological prescriptions and higher inflammatory parameters and presented a higher in-hospital mortality with a higher risk of death (HR 2.32; 95% CI 1.59 to 2.81, p<0.001). Conclusions We found an estimated age-adjusted prevalence of RA and RAILD by analysing real-world data through NLP. RAILD patients were more vulnerable at the time of inclusion with higher comorbidity and inflammatory burden than RAnonILD, which correlated with higher mortality.The RA-WILD study was fully supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Award/grant number not applicable

Improvement of Prostaglandin-Associated Periorbitopathy after Discontinuing Treatment

Objectives:To report that the periorbital changes induced by prostaglandin analogue (PGA) eye drops are partially reversible after discontinuing treatment.Materials and Methods:Nine patients with prostaglandin-associated periorbitopathy seen in a referral oculoplastic practice were included in this study, eight with unilateral glaucoma and one with bilateral open-angle glaucoma. All of them had been treated with topical PGA for at least one year, before the treatment was discontinued for cosmetic reasons.Results:In all cases, there were evident periocular differences between the treated eye and the fellow eye, consisting mainly of deepening of the upper eyelid sulcus and eyelid fat pad reduction. One year after discontinuing the PGA eye drops, improvement of these features was observed.Conclusion:Clinicians and patients should be aware of the side effects of topical PGA therapy on periorbital tissues, and that these side effects can partially regress after discontinuation of the medication

Toward Telemonitoring in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: Protocol for a Mixed Attention Model Study

Background: Rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) are chronic diseases that may alternate between asymptomatic periods and flares. These conditions require complex treatments and close monitoring by rheumatologists to mitigate their effects and improve the patient's quality of life. Often, delays in outpatient consultations or the patient's difficulties in keeping appointments make such close follow-up challenging. For this reason, it is very important to have open communication between patients and health professionals. In this context, implementing telemonitoring in the field of rheumatology has great potential, as it can facilitate the close monitoring of patients with RMDs. The use of these tools helps patients self -manage certain aspects of their disease. This could result in fewer visits to emergency departments and consultations, as well as enable better therapeutic compliance and identification of issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. Objective: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the implementation of a hybrid care model called the mixed attention model (MAM) in clinical practice and determine whether its implementation improves clinical outcomes compared to conventional follow-up. Methods: This is a multicenter prospective observational study involving 360 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondylarthritis (SpA) from 5 Spanish hospitals. The patients will be followed up by the MAM protocol, which is a care model that incorporates a digital tool consisting of a mobile app that patients can use at home and professionals can review asynchronously to detect incidents and follow patients' clinical evolution between face-to-face visits. Another group of patients, whose follow-up will be conducted in accordance with a traditional face-to-face care model, will be assessed as the control group. Sociodemographic characteristics, treatments, laboratory parameters, assessment of tender and swollen joints, visual analog scale for pain, and electronic patient -reported outcome (ePRO) reports will be collected for all participants. In the MAM group, these items will be self -assessed via both the mobile app and during face-to-face visits with the rheumatologist, who will do the same for patients included in the traditional care model. The patients will be able to report any incidence related to their disease or treatment through the mobile app. Results: Participant recruitment began in March 2024 and will continue until December 2024. The follow-up period will be extended by 12 months for all patients. Data collection and analysis are scheduled for completion in December 2025. Conclusions: This paper aims to provide a detailed description of the development and implementation of a digital solution, specifically an MAM. The goal is to achieve significant economic and psychosocial impact within our health care system by enhancing control over RMD

Eyelid Kaposi Sarcoma in an HIV-negative Patient

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a low-grade, multicentric vascular neoplasm. Most commonly, it involves the skin, but it can occur at any site on the body. The cutaneous lesions are often located on the lower legs, genitalia, oral mucosa, and face. KS is categorized in four different types: classic, endemic, epidemic or AIDS associated, and transplantation associated. We report a case of HIV-negative, classic KS located on the eyelid. The eyelid lesion was completely excised, and after a 1-year follow-up, no recurrences were observed. Ocular involvement by KS in a patient who is serologically negative for HIV is extremely rare

Malnutrition causal modeling analytics for Mandaluyong City\u27s Nutrition Committee

The prevalence of malnutrition among children in the Philippines is alarming. According to the Philippine Plan of Action in Nutrition 2017, the prevalence rate of stunting children is 33.4% and 21.5% for underweight in the year 2014. In 2016, there were six hundred and seventy-eight (678) pre-school children who were identified to be malnourished in the city of Mandaluyong during their Operation Timbang. However, the determinants of child malnutrition in the city have not been fully analyzed and identified. Solving problems regarding malnutrition entails properly assessing the nutritional status of the city. To do this, necessary data of the children must be analyzed. With insights backed up by quantitative evidence, managing interventions and programs to address malnutrition; and formulating their problem analysis or the creation of causal model would be more objective. This research aims to identify the determinants of malnutrition by applying statistical and forecasting techniques using data from the different available sources to come up with objective insights, evidences and findings. © 2020 Mattingley Publishing. All rights reserved