Health-related internet use by lupus patients in southern Spain.

Internet has become a widely used tool by patients seeking information on different diseases. The information regarding lupus patients' Internet use is scarce. This study aims to explore the attitudes and practices of lupus patients in southern Spain, regarding Internet use to find health-related information. A survey was carried out including 150 patients from six Andalusian Hospitals. To search for information, 67.3 % of the patients used Internet. The proportion of female Internet users was higher (69.3 vs 46.2 %), particularly those belonging to a patients' association (81.8 vs 32.7 %), and are regular users of Internet (80.2 vs 44.4 %); 37.5 % thought the information found in the Internet was of little use or not useful at all, and 58 % of the respondents stated that the information found caused them concern while for 27 %, it was a relief. Most patients preferred the information given by their physicians (63.6 %); 33.9 % considered that the information from both sources was complementary, and 2.5 % preferred the information obtained from the Internet. A percentage of 85.3 of the patients would like their physicians to provide them with information on high-quality sites regarding their illness. Lupus patients make frequent use of the Internet to look for information on their disease. Considering this, and because better-informed patients follow more precisely the indications given by the physician, medical staff should collaborate in the development of high-quality sites for the patient to have additional sources of information.

Association between -174 interleukin-6 gene polymorphism and biological response to rituximab in several systemic autoimmune diseases.

Rituximab has become a pivotal treatment for systemic autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to determine whether the genetic variant -174 IL-6 contributes to differences in the response to rituximab in patients with systemic autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), inflammatory myopathies, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-mediated vasculitis, systemic sclerosis, Sjöegren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. DNA samples from 144 Spanish patients with different systemic autoimmune diseases receiving rituximab were genotyped for -174 IL-6 (rs1800795) gene polymorphism using the TaqMan(®) allelic discrimination technology. Six months after the first infusion with rituximab, we evaluated the response to the drug: 60.4% of the patients showed a complete response, partial 27.8%, and 11.8% did not respond to the treatment. The CC genotype frequency was significantly increased in nonresponders with respect to responders (23.5% vs. 7.1%, respectively; p=0.049; odds ratio (OR)=4.03, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.78-16.97). According to the genotype distribution, rituximab was effective in 69.2% of the CC carriers, 91.9% of the CG carriers, and 88.4% of the GG carriers. A similar trend was observed when SLE patients were analyzed separately (27.3% carried CC homozygosis in nonresponders and 6.9% in responders; p=0.066; OR=5.10, 95% CI 0.65-31.73). Rituximab was effective in 62.5% of the CC carriers, 88.9% of the GC carriers, and 90% of the GG carriers. These results suggest that -174 IL-6 (rs1800795) gene polymorphism plays a role in the response to rituximab in systemic autoimmune diseases. Validation of these findings in independent cohorts is warranted.

Registry of the Spanish network for systemic sclerosis: clinical pattern according to cutaneous subsets and immunological status.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the incidence of clinical and immunological characteristics of a large cohort of Spanish patients with scleroderma (SSc) and identifying factors associated with particular organ manifestations assessed by a nationwide cross-sectional analysis. METHODS: We classified SSc patients in 4 subsets using a modification of LeRoy and Medsger classification that included: "prescleroderma" (pre-SSc), limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc), diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), and SSc sine scleroderma (ssSSc). Fourteen Spanish centers participated in patient recruitment. On January 2008, the database included 916 consecutive Spanish SSc patients, 801 women (87.4%) and 115 men (12.6%), all of whom fulfilled the classification criteria proposed by LeRoy and Medsger. Epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory data were collected according to a standard protocol. Mean age at diagnosis was 51.2 ± 15.1 years and mean age at disease onset was 44.9.0 ± 15.8 years. lcSSc was the most frequent subset (61.8%) followed by dcSSc (26.5%), ssSSc (7.5%), and preSSc (4%) subsets. Gender ratios were as follows: dcSSc subset, 200 women and 43 men (4.7:1); lcSSc subset, 503 women and 63 men (ratio 7.9:1), and ssSSc subset, 62 women and 7 men (ratio 8.9:1). Digital ulcers, interstitial lung disease (ILD), musculoeskeletal and esophageal involvement, and scleroderma renal crisis were more frequent in dcSSc than lcSSc and ssSSc subsets. The incidence of pulmonary arterial hypertension assessed by echocardiography was similar in all subsets but mean estimated systolic pulmonary arterial pressure was higher in ssSSc than in lcSSc subset (47.3 ± 23.9 mm Hg vs 39.6 ± 19.2 mm Hg; P < 0.03). Cardiac involvement was identified more frequently in ssSSc than in dcSSc and lcSSc subsets (49.3% vs 32.5% and 31.1%, respectively; P = 0.015 and P = 0.004 for both comparisons). Acro-osteolysis (8.2% vs 2.4%, P = 0.049), calcinosis (19.8% vs 7.2%, P < 0.05), and sicca syndrome (37.5% vs 14.5%, P < 0.0001) were more frequent in lcSSc than in ssSSc subsets. The frequency of clinical manifestations related to the presence of anticentromere antibodies or antitopoisomerase I antibodies was very similar to that identified in patients categorized to lcSSc and dcSSc, respectively. However, in multivariate studies, the ranking of the variables according to their overall explanatory effect on the model showed that the contributory effect of the antibody status was not greater than that of the clinical categorization into lcSSc and dcSSc for the majority of disease manifestations, but, in important manifestations, as ILD, absence of anticentromere antibodies was an independent predictor factor. CONCLUSIONS: The classification of SSc into dcSSc, lcSSc, and ssSSc subsets is the one that most closely reflects the natural history of the disease, as they presented clear clinical differences. The immunological profile helps to define important visceral alteration as ILD. Finally, to improve early diagnosis of SSc, patients with preSSc should be considered both to trace the true evolution of the disease and to define which patients could benefit from therapeutic measures able to prevent the appearance of visceral involvements.

Infección grave por Rickettsia conorii asociada a síndrome hemofagocítico / No disponible

No disponible

Rituximab como tratamiento de la púrpura trombótica trombocitopénica asociada a lupus eritematoso sistémico / Rituximab as treatment for purpura associated to systemic lupus thrombocytopenic thrombotic erytematosus

No disponible

[Clinical and immunological features in 112 patients with antiphospholipid syndrome]. / Manifestaciones clínicas y alteraciones inmunológicas en pacientes con síndrome antifosfolipídico. Presentación de 112 casos.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We decided to describe the demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of a series of patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) (Harris criteria) and review other Spanish published series. PATIENTS AND METHOD: We describe 112 patients with APS, 50 primary (PAPS) and 62 secondary (SAPS) -56 (90%) to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-, monitorized in two referral centers in Malaga (Spain) from 1989 to 2000. All data were obtained from the medical records by means of a protocol. RESULTS: The age was similar in both groups (42.3 [14.7] years for the whole series). Patients with SAPS had an earlier onset of the disease (29.6 [12.6] years, vs 37.0 [13.9] years in PAPS) and they had a longer evolution of the disease (143.3 [115.5] months, vs 83.5 [73.5] months in PAPS). There was a female predominance (84% and 60% in SAPS and PAPS, respectively). The prevalences of arterial (43%) and venous thrombosis (39%), fetal loss (40%), premature births (9%), anticardiolipin antibodies (88%) and lupus anticoagulant (54%) were similar in both groups. The prevalence of ANA-IFI, thrombocytopenia and autoimmune anemia was higher in SAPS. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PAPS and SAPS did not present any differences in the clinical manifestations and immunological disorders of the syndrome. Those patients with SAPS were younger at the beginning of the disease and there was a female predominance. Our patients were different from those included in other Spanish published series, which could be explained by selection and classification bias.