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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients frequently have changes in their body composition, with a decrease in muscle mass and an increase in fat mass, a syndrome that is termed rheumatoid cachexia (RC). The prevalence of this nutritional alteration is not well known; there is as yet no consensus, seeing as it depends on the methods, techniques, and cutoff points that are used for its diagnosis. The main aim of this study was to identify RC through assessment by bioelectrical impedance vector analysis (BIVA) and its association with metabolic causes, physical function, and the main disease status, among others. The prevalence of RC was identified in those subjects who fell outside the right lower quadrant of the reference curve of RXc graph of BIVA. Clinical, anthropometric, biochemical and physical activity, emotional status, and diet markers were also evaluated. Ninety-four patients were included (92.55% women). The prevalence of RC assessed by BIVA was 21.28%. BIVA-cachexia patients had a lesser value of handgrip strength vs. patients without BIVA-cachexia 10.2 kg (7.2-13.4) vs. 14.7 kg (9.6-19), p = 0.0062. Disability and folic acid with methotrexate consumption are related to BIVA-cachexia ((OR 4.69, 95% CI 1.33, 16.54, p = 0.016) and (OR 0.19, 95%CI 0.058, 0.651, p = 0.008), respectively). BIVA could represent a valuable tool to assess presence of RC. It is important that RA patients have physical therapy to improve their nutritional status.

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Background: Early tuberculosis (TB) diagnostic is one of the critical steps to TB control. GeneXpert MTB/RIF has been widely proven for a prompt TB diagnosis. The use of GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay with transbronchial lung cryobiopsy samples may increase diagnostic accuracy. We aim to assess the diagnostic of TB with GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay with transbronchial lung cryobiopsy.Methods: Patients with suspected diagnosis of TB and negative smear microscopies, with TB culture and GeneXpert MTB/RIF assay with transbronchial lung cryobiopsy were included in this cross-sectional study.

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Low-carbohydrate diet may improve the oxygen saturation in patients with chronic stable heart failure.

ResumenIntroducción: los pacientes con insufi ciencia cardiaca (IC) desarrollan cambios importantes en la composición corporal; sin embargo, pocos estudios han evaluado prospectivamente la asociación entre estos cambios y el empeoramiento de la clase funcional en pacientes con IC crónica estable. Objetivo: el objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar si los cambios en los parámetros de la bioimpedancia estaban relacionados con el deterioro de la clase funcional de la clasifi cación de la New York Heart Association (NYHA) después de 6 meses. Métodos: se incluyeron 275 sujetos con IC crónica estable confi rmada por ecocardiograma. Se les realizaron mediciones de composición corporal por impedancia bioeléctrica de cuerpo completo con un equipo de múltiples frecuencias BodyStat QuadScan 4000 y se determinó la clase funcional por la clasifi cación de la New York Heart Association (NYHA) después de seis meses. Resultados: sesenta y seis (24%) sujetos mostraron deterioro de su clase funcional y 209 la mejoraron o no cambiaron. Se encontró mayor proporción de pacientes que cuya clase funcional se deterioró, en los que aumentó > 5% el agua extracelular y que desarrollaron hipervolemia de acuerdo a su localización en la gráfi ca resistencia/reactancia. La disminución de > 5% de la resistencia/talla se asoció de forma independiente con el deterioro de la clase funcional con un OR = 1.42 (IC 95% 1.01-2.0, p = 0.04). Conclusiones: la evaluación de la composición corporal a través de bioimpedancia eléctrica en pacientes con IC es un marcador de deterioro funcional. AbstractBackground: Heart failure (HF) patients develop important changes in body composition, but only a small number of studies have evaluated the associations between these changes and functional class deterioration in a prospective manner. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether changes in bioimpedance parameters were associated with NYHA functional class deterioration over six months. Methods: A total of 275 chronic stable HF patients confi rmed by echocardiography were recruited. Body composition measurements were obtained by whole body bioelectrical impedance with multiple frequency equipment (BodyStat QuadScan 4000). We evaluated functional class using the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classifi cation at baseline and after six months. Results: According to our results, 66 (24%) subjects exhibited functional class deterioration, while 209 improved or exhibited no change. A greater proportion of patients exhibited higher extracellular water (> 5%), and these patients developed hypervolemia, according to location on the resistance/reactance graph. A 5% decrease in resistance/height was associated with functional class deterioration with an OR of 1.42 (95% CI 1.01-2.0, p = 0.04). Conclusions: Body composition assessment through bioelectrical impedance exhibited a valuable performance as a marker of functional class deterioration in stable HF patients.

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