Barriers to the composition and implementation of advance directives in oncology: a literature review.

The advance directive (AD) is an important resource in oncology and all areas of medicine directly involved in the care of palliative patients. It provides people with the right to have their living wills honoured when they cannot respond by themselves. Despite their importance, ADs are still underused in most countries due to multiple factors. The objective of this review is to better categorise the barriers and difficulties that could impair the composition and implementation of ADs, allowing direct efforts against these obstacles. After the literature review, we believe that there would be five steps in the trajectory of an AD (discussion, composition, registration, access and implementation) and that all those steps can be affected by factors involving the health systems and professionals, the patient themselves and relatives or caregivers.

Atypical Presentation: Metastatic Uveal Melanoma in a Young Patient without Visual Complaints.

BACKGROUND: Uveal melanoma is a rare and aggressive subtype of melanoma, with singular characteristics that separate it from the most famous cutaneous melanoma. This uncommon condition becomes even rarer if we look at young population. Common chemotherapy regimens does not work with this aggressive disease in its metastatic scenario, and the new armament like targeted and immunotherapies are still looking for more robust evidence. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a rare case of uveal melanoma in a patient younger than 20 years, with abdominal pain as his initial complaint. He did not present the typical visual symptoms of the primary site because of an auto accident suffered 4 months before the presentation, letting him blind of the eye affected by the tumor development. CONCLUSION: There is always a possibility of the diagnosis of uveal melanoma in cases with associated isolated hepatic metastases, even in a young population, where this hypothesis is often rejected by the epidemiological frequency of other tumors. This rare case is a useful example.

Allopurinol, benzbromarone, or a combination in treating patients with gout: analysis of a series of outpatients.

Objective. To profile a sample of gouty patients treated with allopurinol, benzbromarone, or a combination of these two drugs and to describe the impact of this therapy in reducing uric acid levels. Methods. An observational, transversal study was performed. We evaluated 48 patients diagnosed with gout who were seen at the Outpatient Rheumatology Clinic of the Federal University of Paraná between January 2009 and November 2010. Clinical data, creatinine serum levels, and basal and posttreatment levels of serum urates, transaminases, and bilirubins were recorded. Uric acid levels were measured in a 24-hour urine sample. Patients were divided into three groups: patients given only allopurinol (A), only benzbromarone (B), and both in combined therapy (A + B). Results. The average age of these patients was 56.6 ± 11.4 years, varying from 35 to 81 years. The entire patient group experienced a significant drop in serum urate levels, from 8.5 ± 1.8 mg/dL (0.472 ± 0.1 mmol/L) to 6.7 ± 2.1 mg/dL (0.372 ± 0.116 mmol/L) (P < 0.001), regardless of the prescribed medication. The number of patients taking both drugs whose serum uric acid values fell within normal range (men <7 mg/dL (0.38 mmol/L) and women <6 mg/dL (0.33 mmol/L)) was 85.7% (6/7) while this value for the group taking benzbromarone alone was 75% (3/4) and for the group taking allopurinol alone this number was 51.8% (14/27). Conclusions. The therapeutic combination of benzbromarone and allopurinol significantly decreased serum urate levels in patients with gout when compared to individual use of each of these agents. This finding is especially important in treating patients who cannot control hyperuricemia with monotherapy. Benzbromarone alone or in combination with allopurinol has an important clinical role in controlling hyperuricemia in patients with gout.

Risk factors and predictors of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis.

Given the potential consequences of joint damage for patients with psoriatic arthritis, we believe that the optimization of screening methods and the investigation of arthritis in patients with psoriasis are a medical priority. It is very useful to identify predictors of arthritis in patients with psoriasis. In fact, there is a consensus among doctors that the large gap between the diagnosis of psoriasis and that of psoriatic arthritis should be narrowed. In order to better manage patients with psoriasis, the authors review and discuss recent publications on the evidence of current predictors of arthritis in patients with psoriasis.

Concurrent rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in one patient: the importance of new classification criteria.

We report the case of concomitant ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis in a 65-year-old Caucasian male, who had symmetric polyarthritis with erosion of the metacarpophalangeal joint on conventional X-ray, inflammatory low back pain with HLA-B27 positivity, and sacroiliitis. Laboratory analysis showed high levels of rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP). Clinical features of previously reported cases were compared with those of our case. This is the first case report on the coexistence of both diseases in the same patient, for whom anti- CCP testing and the latest versions of axial ASAS criteria and ACR/EULAR criteria for the classification of ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively, were used.

Risk factors and predictors of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis / Fatores de risco e preditivos do desenvolvimento de artrite psoriásica em pacientes portadores de psoríase

Given the potential consequences of joint damage for patients with psoriatic arthritis, we believe that the optimization of screening methods and the investigation of arthritis in patients with psoriasis are a medical priority. It is very useful to identify predictors of arthritis in patients with psoriasis. In fact, there is a consensus among doctors that the large gap between the diagnosis of psoriasis and that of psoriatic arthritis should be narrowed. In order to better manage patients with psoriasis, the authors review and discuss recent publications on the evidence of current predictors of arthritis in patients with psoriasis.

Em virtude das potenciais sequelas envolvidas no dano articular da artrite psoriásica, configura-se em uma prioridade médica a otimização dos métodos de rastreio e investigação de artrite nos pacientes com psoríase. Identificar preditores de artrite em pacientes com psoriase é fundamental para a prática clinica, além disso há um reconhecimento de que o grande intervalo entre o diagnóstico de psoríase e o diagnóstico de Artrite psoriásica em sua fase inicial deve ser reduzido. No sentido de contribuir com uma melhor abordagem de pacientes com psoríase, os autores revisam e discutem recentes publicações com evidencias de alguns fatores preditores de inicio de artrite nestes pacientes.

Concomitância de artrite reumatoide e espondilite anquilosante em um único paciente: importância dos novos critérios de classificação / Concurrent rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis in one patient: the importance of new classification criteria

Relatamos um caso de concomitância de espondilite anquilosante e artrite reumatoide em um paciente caucasiano de 65 anos, com achados clínicos de poliartrite simétrica com erosão de metacarpofalangeana ao raio X convencional e dor lombar infl amatória, HLA-B27+, associada à sacroiliíte. O paciente apresentou valores elevados de fator reumatoide e antipeptídeo citrulinado cíclico (anti-CCP). Realizamos uma revisão da literatura na qual as principais características de casos previamente reportados foram comparadas às deste caso. Este é o primeiro relato de caso de concomitância das duas doenças em que se utilizou teste laboratorial para dosagem do anti-CCP associado ao preenchimento das últimas versões dos critérios ASAS axial e ACR/EULAR para a classificação de espondilite anquilosante e artrite reumatoide, respectivamente.

We report the case of concomitant ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis in a 65-year-old Caucasian male, who had symmetric polyarthritis with erosion of the metacarpophalangeal joint on conventional X-ray, infl ammatory low back pain with HLA-B27 positivity, and sacroiliitis. Laboratory analysis showed high levels of rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP). Clinical features of previously reported cases were compared with those of our case. This is the first case report on the coexistence of both diseases in the same patient, for whom anti- CCP testing and the latest versions of axial ASAS criteria and ACR/EULAR criteria for the classification of ankylosing spondylitis and rheumatoid arthritis, respectively, were used.