Report from the Latin American Spondyloarthritis Society for Education and Research in Immunology and Medicine organization 2012 workshop.

The first annual meeting of the Latin American Spondyloarthritis Society for Education and Research in Immunology and Medicine (LASSERIM) was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in September 2012 and was attended by key opinion leaders, researchers, and rheumatologists. The meeting included presentations and discussions from renowned speakers during 2 days and a coaching leadership exercise led by an expert in the field followed by an open forum. Two groups defined a priori discussed the establishment of a professional network and organization to be involved in the identification, assessment, and effective resolution of health care issues in Latin America.A broad spectrum of topics were discussed but focused on the following: pharmacoeconomics in general rheumatology, spondyloarthritis and chronic back pain, therapeutic interventions in rheumatoid arthritis, ultrasonography in spondyloarthritis, impact of social media in medicine and global trends in leadership, quality of life, and innovation. A special workshop on coaching in health care and coaching as a tool to implement LASSERIM goals was part of the 2-day conference.LASSERIM will be working in the future on education, research, and innovation in the field of rheumatology and immunology. A special focus will be on spondyloarthritis, by promoting research, open discussions, and by conducting carefully planned research studies to impact on the quality of life of patients and doctors from Latin American countries.

Normatización para la administración y el seguimiento de los agentes bilógicos y de quimioterapia usados en reumatología / Guidelines for use of biologic agents and quimiotherapy in Rheumatology

El desarrollo de las ciencias básicas como la inmunología, la genética y la biología molecular ha permitido implementar nuevas alternativas de tratamiento en enfermedades que tradicionalmente contaban con pocas opciones terapéuticas. La reumatología en los últimos años ha adoptado y extendido el uso de agentes biológicos y la quimioterapia en la mayoría de las enfermedades reumáticas. Para ello es necesario establecer guías para la utilización de estos agentes. El uso inapropiado de estos agentes puede llevar a consecuencias catastróficas. Los nuevos medicamentos deben ser usados sólo por personas expertas en el tratamiento de las enfermedades reumáticas y su administración debería realizarse en condiciones ideales para minimizar el riesgo. La Asociación Colombiana de Reumatología pretende con este documento establecer las guías locales para utilizar estos agentes