Sarcoidosis: experience in a Mexican ophthalmological clinic.

BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disorder in which patients frequently develop ocular manifestations that precede systemic involvement, sometimes it even presents as an ocular isolated form of the disease. The purpose of this study is to report the ocular and systemic manifestations of sarcoidosis in a series of Mexican patients, as there is a low incidence of the disease in this population. METHODS: A retrospective case series of patients with positive classification criteria for sarcoidosis who attended Asociacion Para Evitar la Ceguera en Mexico, IAP between 2011 and 2022. Descriptive statistics were used to report the clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings and treatment. Numerical results were presented using median values and first and third quartiles for distribution. RESULTS: Fourteen patients were included in this study, 10 of them had definite ocular sarcoidosis (biopsy-proven), 4 had presumed ocular sarcoidosis. The median age of onset was 52 (34; 67), with a predominance of female patients (71.4%). Ten patients (71.4%) debuted with ocular manifestations. The most common forms of ocular involvement were bilateral anterior uveitis (50%) and panuveitis (28.6%). Median follow-up was 24 (13-49) months. CONCLUSIONS: Sarcoidosis is a rare, underdiagnosed condition in Mexico and ocular involvement can be an early manifestation of the disease. Ophthalmologists should be alert to the signs of ocular sarcoidosis and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team to screen for systemic involvement if suspicion is high.

BLK and BANK1 variants and interactions are associated with susceptibility for primary Sjögren's syndrome and with some clinical features.

BLK and BANK1 in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) have scarcely been evaluated and the results are inconclusive. The aim of our study was to determine whether single nucleotide variants (SNVs) located within BLK or BANK1 are associated with susceptibility, clinical and serological features, and smoking in pSS. BLK rs13277113A/G, BANK1 rs10516487G/A and rs3733197G/A were genotyped in 203 cases and 424 controls using a TaqMan® SNP genotyping assay. The BLK rs13277113A allele showed association with pSS under the allelic (OR 1.35, p = 0.02), and recessive (OR 1.83, p = 0.003) model, while, BANK1 rs3733197G/A showed association under the dominant model (OR 2.90, p = 0.043). Interactions between BANK1 and BLK genotypes also showed association (OR 2.36, p < 0.0001). In addition, BLK rs13277113A/G was associated with protection against arthritis and BANK1 rs10516487G/A with both arthritis and keratoconjunctivitis sicca, meanwhile, BANK1 rs3733197G/A was associated with smoking in patients with pSS. This is the first study to describe an association between BLK and susceptibility to pSS in a Latin-American population. Our data also shows a first evidence of association between interactions of BLK and BANK1 in pSS, and association of BLK and BANK1with arthritis, keratoconjunctivitis sicca and smoking in patients with pSS.

Pulmonary hypertension in systemic lupus erythematosus: echocardiography-based definitions predict 6-year survival.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a core of echocardiography-based definitions of pulmonary hypertension (PH), as proposed by the European Society of Cardiology, European Respiratory Society and International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation (ESC/ERS/ISHLT), may predict long-term survival in patients with SLE. METHODS: A post hoc analysis from a cohort of SLE patients followed over 6 years was performed. Clinical associations, serum biomarkers, autoantibody profile, length of survival and all-cause mortality were assessed. RESULTS: Out of 115 patients from the original cohort, 55 satisfied our inclusion criteria and were grouped according to echocardiography as unlikely (n = 26), possible (n = 16) or likely (n = 13) to have PH. Likely PH was associated with a history of pulmonary thromboembolism, higher cumulated organ damage and active arthritis. The 6-year survival rate was 88% in the unlikely PH group, 87% in the possible PH group and 68% in the likely PH group (P < 0.05). Serum levels of endothelin-1, monocyte chemotactic protein-1, IL-17, and IFN-γ as well as a number of autoantibodies were no different between groups. CONCLUSION: The ESC/ERS/ISHLT echocardiography-based definitions of PH are useful to predict 6-year mortality in SLE patients. A history of pulmonary thromboembolism and lung vasculitis/haemorrhage, cumulated organ damage and long-lasting disease are associated with PH in SLE.

Combined Ophthalmology and Rheumatology Evaluation in Systemic Autoimmune Diseases with Ocular Involvement: A Third Level Reference Center in Mexico.

AIM: A cross-sectional descriptive study to determine the frequency of ocular manifestations associated with systemic autoimmune diseases in a third-level hospital in Mexico. METHODS: Records from 2014 to 2017 at the Inflammatory Eye Disease Clinic of the Asociación Para Evitar la Cegueraen México were examined by both an ophthalmologist and a rheumatologist on the same day. Diagnosis was achieved from initial ocular manifestations with later systemic assessment. RESULTS: Out of 311 medical records, 276 were included, 75% of the patients were female. Keratoconjunctivitis sicca was the most frequent ocular manifestation (33.3%), followed by anterior uveitis (29.5%), scleritis (23.2%), and peripheral ulcerative keratitis (7.2%). The leading autoimmune diseases were spondyloarthritis (29%), rheumatoid arthritis (28.6%), primary Sjögren's syndrome (10.5%) and granulomatosis with polyangiitis (9.1%). 41.3% of systemic disease diagnoses were made after an initial ocular manifestation. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammatory eye manifestations can imply systemic autoimmune diseases. It is crucial to suspect and confirm this association and provide timely interdisciplinary management.

Performance of the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics and the 1997 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus in a real-life scenario.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) criteria in classifying systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in an uncontrolled real-life scenario. METHODS: Chart review study was performed in which each criterion from the 1997 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the 2012 SLICC criteria to classify SLE was applied to patients from an outpatient rheumatology clinic. The clinical diagnosis was used as the gold standard. RESULTS: The sensitivity and specificity of the 2012 SLICC criteria were 92% and 99%, respectively, compared with the 1997 ACR criteria, which were 97% and 99%, respectively. The 2012 SLICC criteria were similar to the 1997 ACR criteria in terms of positive (98.9% versus 99%) and negative (92.5% versus 97.1%) predictive values as well as positive (92 versus 97) and negative (0.08 versus 0.03) likelihood ratios. A concordance of 0.96 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.92­1.00) was observed between clinical diagnosis and the 1997 ACR criteria, while the concordance was 0.91 (95% CI 0.85­0.97) for the 2012 SLICC criteria. Seven SLE patients classified by the 1997 ACR criteria did not meet the 2012 SLICC criteria because of either the new definition for lymphopenia (2 patients) or the presence of isolated cutaneous involvement (5 patients), while 2 SLE patients who were classified by the 2012 SLICC criteria did not meet the 1997 ACR criteria because of either the presence of erosive arthritis or biopsy-proven nephritis with circulating antinuclear antibodies. CONCLUSION: Overall, the 1997 ACR and the 2012 SLICC criteria are similar to classify SLE in an uncontrolled real-life scenario, although several new items contained in the 2012 SLICC criteria could represent a step forward for research purposes in selected clinical settings.