Telehealth and Telemedicine in Latin American Rheumatology, a New Era After COVID-19

Q3Q3Telemedicine is the delivery of health care services by health care professionals using information and communication technologies to exchange valid information for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases. Telemedicine was further developed in Latin America during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, becoming the first line of defense for health professionals to stop the spread of infections and allow them to continue the care of their patients. During the pandemic, 79% of rheumatologists in Latin America reported the use of remote communication, the most frequent being the use of phone calls and WhatsApp voice messages. In contrast, 84% of the patients reported that telemedicine was appropriate for them during the pandemic, but only 54% considered telemedicine to be a valid option for rheumatic health care after the pandemic. Telemedicine and telehealth have advantages such as lower costs, improved access in rural areas, shortage of care providers, and reduction in waiting time for appointments. However, it also has some challenges, such as legal, technological, and organizational barriers. In this review, we explore the current state of telemedicine in Latin America and discuss its future.https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1490-1822Revista Internacional - IndexadaBN

“Treat to Persist”, una profundización del “Treat to Target”

El tratamiento de la artritis reumatoidea (AR), ha evolucionado considerablemente en los últimos años, resultando en una mejoría notable en la capacidad funcional, calidad y expectativa de vida de los pacientes1. Esta mejoría no solo se debe al desarrollo de más y mejores medicaciones, sino principalmente a la internalización por parte de la mayoría de los reumatólogos del concepto de treat to target (T2T) o tratamiento dirigido al objetivo2. El T2T establece 4 principios básicos, que incluyen: A) El tratamiento de la artritis reumatoidea debe estar basado en una decisión conjunta del reumatólogo y el paciente, B) El objetivo primario del trata-miento de la AR es favorecer una buena calidad de vida a largo plazo, a través del control de los síntomas, prevención del daño estructural, normalización de la capacidad funcional y participación social del paciente, C) La supresión de la inflamación es la principal manera de lograr estos objetivos, D) El tratamiento hacia un objetivo, evaluando la actividad de la enfermedad y ajustando el tratamiento en consecuencia, mejora la evolución de los pacientes con AR

Treatment recommendations for psoriatic arthritis

Objective: To develop comprehensive recommendations for the treatment of the various clinical manifestations of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) based on evidence obtained from a systematic review of the literature and from consensus opinion. Methods: Formal literature reviews of treatment for the most significant discrete clinical manifestations of PsA (skin and nails, peripheral arthritis, axial disease, dactylitis and enthesitis) were performed and published by members of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA). Treatment recommendations were drafted for each of the clinical manifestations by rheumatologists, dermatologists and PsA patients based on the literature reviews and consensus opinion. The level of agreement for the individual treatment recommendations among GRAPPA members was assessed with an online questionnaire. Results: Treatment recommendations were developed for peripheral arthritis, axial disease, psoriasis, nail disease, dactylitis and enthesitis in the setting of PsA. In rotal, 19 recommendations were drafted, and over 80% agreement was obtained on 16 of them. In addition, a grid that factors disease severity into each of the different disease manifestations was developed to help the clinician with treatment decisions for the individual patient from an evidenced-based perspective. Conclusions: Treatment recommendations for the cardinal physical manifestations of PsA were developed based on a literature review and consensus between rheumatologists and dermatologists. In addition, a grid was established to assist in therapeutic reasoning and decision making for individual patients. It is anticipated that periodic updates will take place using this framework as new data become available

Rebiopsias en glomerulonefritis asociadas a ANCA: ¿Cuál es su utilidad en la toma de decisiones?

El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar la utilidad de la rebiopsia renal en pacientes con glomerulonefritis ANCA en la toma de decisiones. Se incluyeron en forma retrospectiva todos los pacientes con glomerulonefritis ANCA diagnosticados por biopsia renal entre enero de 2002 y mayo de 2017. Se revisó la histología de las rebiopsias y fue correlacionada con los hallazgos clínicos (hematuria, proteinuria y caída del filtrado) y resultados histológicos de la primera y segunda biopsia. Sesenta pacientes (77% mujeres) fueron incluidos

GRAPPA Treatment Recommendations: An Update From the 2020 GRAPPA Annual Meeting

Throughout 2020, the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) has been working to update the GRAPPA treatment recommendations for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The planned methodology for this update was published previously, and herein we provide an update on progress so far, including details of the systematic literature searches undertaken. GRAPPA is committed to regular updates of its treatment recommendations to incorporate the many significant therapeutic advances that have taken place in the PsA literature since the previous recommendation publication in 2015. The development and updating of treatment recommendations for optimal treatment approaches for patients with PsA has been an important mission of the GRAPPA since its inception. GRAPPA is currently finalizing domain-specific recommendations with an aim to produce updated treatment recommendations for publication in 2021

Cost-effectiveness of a hypertension management programme in an elderly population: a Markov model

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mounting evidence shows that multi-intervention programmes for hypertension treatment are more effective than an isolated pharmacological strategy. Full economic evaluations of hypertension management programmes are scarce and contain methodological limitations. The aim of the study was to evaluate if a hypertension management programme for elderly patients is cost-effective compared to usual care from the perspective of a third-party payer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We built a cost-effectiveness model using published evidence of effectiveness of a comprehensive hypertension programme vs. usual care for patients 65 years or older at a community hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We explored incremental cost-effectiveness between groups. The model used a life-time framework adopting a third-party payer's perspective. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated in International Dollars per life-year gained. We performed a probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) to explore variable uncertainty.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ICER for the base-case of the "Hypertension Programme" versus the "Usual care" approach was 1,124 International Dollars per life-year gained. PSA did not significantly influence results. The programme had a probability of 43% of being dominant (more effective and less costly) and, overall, 95% chance of being cost-effective.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Results showed that "Hypertension Programme" had high probabilities of being cost-effective under a wide range of scenarios. This is the first sound cost-effectiveness study to assess a comprehensive hypertension programme versus usual care. This study measures hard outcomes and explores robustness through a probabilistic sensitivity analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The comprehensive hypertension programme had high probabilities of being cost-effective versus usual care. This study supports the idea that similar programmes could be the preferred strategy in countries and within health care systems where hypertension treatment for elderly patients is a standard practice.</p

Binuclear Cu2+ complex mediated discrimination between L-glutamate and L-aspartate in water

L-Glutamate and L-aspartate selectivity is achieved by the action of two Cu2+ metal ions rightly disposed in a cyclophanetype macrocyclic framework; electrochemical sensing of glutamate has been achieved by adsorption of the copper complexes on graphite electrodes.Verdejo Viu, Begoña, [email protected] ; Domenech Carbo, Antonio, [email protected] ; Jimenez Garcia, Hermas Rafael, [email protected] ; Soriano Soto, Concepción, [email protected] ; Garcia-España Monsonis, Enrique, [email protected]

Drug therapies for peripheral joint disease in psoriatic arthritis:a systematic review

In 2009, GRAPPA published their first evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Since then, new information has been published and drugs developed. We summarize evidence for the efficacy of available treatments for peripheral joint involvement in PsA. We performed a systematic review of current literature on the efficacy of different therapies, management, and therapeutic strategies for peripheral arthritis involvement in PsA, in order to provide information for the development of the new GRAPPA treatment recommendations.</jats:p

Frecuencia de infección por SARS-CoV-2 en asistentes a un congreso médico en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Introducción: en el contexto de la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2, la Sociedad Argentina de Reumatología (SAR) organizó su congreso “híbrido” (presencial y virtual), en diciembre de 2021, en concordancia con la condición epidemiológica. El objetivo principal de este trabajo fue describir la frecuencia de nuevos casos de infección luego de asistir al Congreso y la opinión de los médicos sobre los aspectos de bioseguridad del evento, y como objetivo secundario, analizar las características de los asistentes durante la pandemia por SARS-CoV-2. Materiales y métodos: estudio transversal a través de una encuesta online, autoadministrada y anónima. Se encuestaron a los concurrentes (médicos y no médicos) al Congreso (presencial o virtual). La primera encuesta fue al momento de la inscripción y la segunda luego de 14 días de culminado, solo para los médicos. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo de los resultados. Resultados: 1.322 individuos se inscribieron al Congreso; 1.039 (98,9%) eran médicos. 1.051 (79,5%) completaron la primera encuesta y 501 (48,2%) contestaron la segunda. Mientras 428 (85,4%) asistieron presencialmente, la virtualidad la eligieron aquellos con más años de ejercicio (p=0,023), con comorbilidades (p=0,03) y quienes tuvieron una internación previa por SARS-CoV-2 (p=0,05). Del total, 1.028 (97,8%) estaban vacunados. El 84,6% tuvo una opinión favorable sobre la modalidad “híbrida”. Cinco (1,2%) presentaron síntomas de infección por SARS-CoV-2 y tres (0,7%) tuvieron confirmación diagnóstica. Conclusiones: cinco personas registraron la infección sintomática después del evento. Las medidas de bioseguridad tomadas fueron las aconsejadas por el Ministerio de Salud de la Nación y la opinión de los médicos sobre las mismas fueron favorables