The value of inquiring patients about local discomfort during blood pressure measurement for fibromyalgia detection. A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Fibromyalgia overlaps and/or mimics other rheumatic diseases and may be a confounding factor in the clinimetric assessment of these illnesses. Allodynia is a distinctive fibromyalgia feature that can be elicited during routine blood pressure measurement. For epidemiological purposes fibromyalgia can be diagnosed using the 2016 Wolfe et al. criteria questionnaire. No physical examination is required. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of a straightforward question formulated during routine blood pressure measurement for fibromyalgia detection in a rheumatology outpatient clinic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All adult patients attending our Rheumatology outpatient clinic were invited to participate. While awaiting their medical consultation, they filled-out the 2016 Wolfe et al. FM diagnostic criteria questionnaire. During the ensuing routine physical examination, the physician advanced the following guideline: "I am going to take your blood pressure; tell me if the cuff's pressure causes pain". Then, blood pressure cuff was inflated to 170 mm/Hg. Sphygmomanometry induced allodynia was defined as any local discomfort caused by blood pressure measurement. If a patient voiced any uneasiness, a follow-up dichotomic question was formulated "did it hurt much or little". Sphygmomanometry-induced allodynia was correlated with the presence of fibromyalgia according to the 2016 Wolfe diagnostic criteria. RESULTS: Four hundred and ninety-one patients were included in the study; most of them (84%) were female. The female cohort displayed the following features: Twenty five percent had fibromyalgia. Twenty seven percent had sphygmomanometry-induced allodynia. In women, sphygmomanometry-evoked allodynia had 63% sensitivity and 84% specificity for fibromyalgia diagnosis. The area under curve was 0.751. Moreover, having "much" local pain elicitation during blood pressure testing had 23% sensitivity and 96% specificity for fibromyalgia diagnosis. Men behaved differently; 15% fulfilled the fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria, but only 2% had sphygmomanometry induced allodynia. CONCLUSIONS: Inquiring female patients about local discomfort during routine blood pressure measurement is a simple and efficient procedure for fibromyalgia detection. This undemanding approach could be implemented in all clinical settings. There is marked sexual dimorphism in the link between sphygmomanometry-induced allodynia and fibromyalgia diagnosis. The presence of fibromyalgia is almost certain in those individuals having substantial pain elicitation during blood pressure measurement.

Evidence and the Main Adverse Effects Regarding Drug Therapies in the War Against COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, the breakthrough of COVID-19 pandemic around the world is the biggest health challenge for the clinicians, and it represents an unexpected effort to identify an effective treatment for those patients. No proven definitive therapies for this infection currently exist. Unfortunately, the infected patients increased in an alarming way every day, faster than medical evidence. At present, the expanding knowledge regarding SARS-COV-2 virology provides several potential drug targets. OBJECTIVE: Therefore, clinicians need a rapid review and guideline about the main adverse effects regarding the most prescribed drugs and, specifically, the efficacy and potential risk of each pharmacological therapy, during hospital care. METHODS: The articles review was performed using PubMed to identify relevant papers in English language reported through July 20th, 2020; a second review was performed using Web of Science until August 28th, 2020. Due to the lack of randomized clinical trials, we included case reports, case series and reviews. We found a total of 1606 related articles. The authors independently reviewed the titles and abstracts for inclusion. CONCLUSION: At present, despite the enormous medical effort for publishing several trials or case reports, we have not yet discovered a definitive therapy against the COVID-19 infection. This brief review aims to prompt identification of risk factors and main adverse effects in a systematic view related to therapy with partial evidence proposed to date.

Hyperuricemia on Admission Predicts Short-Term Mortality due to Myocardial Infarction in a Population with High Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors.

BACKGROUND: National health surveys have revealed an outstandingly high prevalence of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes in Mexico. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether serum uric acid levels on admission may predict short-term mortality in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in a population with an unusually high prevalence of classic cardiovascular risks. METHODS: A total of 795 ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients undergoing primary reperfusion therapy were classified as having normouricemia or hyperuricemia according to serum uric acid levels at admission, and the occurrence of mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events during coronary care unit stay was assessed. RESULTS: Patients with hyperuricemia (n = 291; mean age 61.2 ± 11.9 years; 74.8% males) were older, obese, hypertensive, and had a higher Killip class at admission than those with normouricemia (n = 504; mean age 57.6 ± 11.3 years; 88.9% males). Mortality rates were 1.7 and 0.7 cases/100 patients per day of coronary care unit stay in hyperuricemic and normouricemic patients, respectively. Comparatively, no association was observed for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events. After multivariate adjustments, independent predictors for short-term mortality were only Killip class ≥ 2 (HR: 13.15; 95% CI: 5.29-29.85; p < 0.0001) and elevated serum uric acid levels (HR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.08-3.66; p = 0.026). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperuricemia on admission remains associated with short-term mortality in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients from a population with an unusually high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors.