Objective. To our knowledge, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fibromyalgia (FM) patients has not been studied before. FM patients often experience clinical impairment with stress. The aim of this study was to determine whether severity of FM increases because of confinement by the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. This prospective study includes patients from the Combined Index of Severity of Fibromyalgia (ICAF) cohort who met the 2010 ACR FM criteria. In this cohort, all patients have a periodical evaluation of their quality of life through two questionnaires, the ICAF, which assesses the ability to perform daily living activities, anxiety and depression, and through the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC), which assesses overall change after a therapeutical intervention. Pre-and post-confinement measurements were analysed. Inferential statistical analysis and ANOVA for repeated measurements were used. Results. A total of 93 patients received a phone consultation, (95.5% females), mean (SD) age of 48.23 (8.38) years. Four patients were excluded as presenting COVID-19 and 51 (57%) completed the post-confinement ICAF. Following confinement, 25 (49%) patients got worse (group-worse) and 26 (51%) patients experienced no change or improved (group-stable). Comparisons between pre-and post-confinement ICAF did not show significant differences in both groups. Passive coping was significantly different in groupworse in pre-confinement evaluation. In the 80% of patients with passive coping predominance there were no changes in coping strategy. Conclusion. No clinical impairment due to COVID-19 confinement oc-curred. The perceived worsening among FM patients relies primarily on how patients cope with their disease, without a real impact on clinical manifestations.
Objective To assess the accuracy of ultrasound (US) versus FDG-PET/CT to identify extracranial involvement in suspected large vessel vasculitis (LVV) patients. Methods Retrospective observational study of patients referred to our US fast track clinic with suspected LVV. All patients underwent US exam within 24 hours per protocol. FDG-PET/CT was performed according to clinician criteria. The gold standard for LVV diagnosis was clinical confirmation after 6 months. Results Of the 113 patients included (74.3% female, mean age 74 years), 37(32.7%) were diagnosed of LVV after 6 months. Sensitivity and specificity of US was 86.5% and 96.1%, respectively (85.7% and 87.1% for intracranial and 94.1% and 80.2% for extracanial arteries, respectively). Only 12(42.9%) of 28 patients undergoing a FDG-PET/CT per clinician criteria, showed positive findings. Sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET/CT for LVV was 61.1% and 90%, respectively (55.6% and 63.2% for intracranial and 84.6% and 93.3% for extacranial arteries). Taking FDG-PET/CT as the reference, US showed extracranial inflammation in 10/12(83.3%) and detected 2(12.5%) additional cases of extracranial involvement with negative FDG-PET/CT. Conversely, FDG-PET/CT showed extracranial inflammation in 2 patients with negative US (1 isolated aortitis and 1 aortoiliac involvement). FDG-PET/CT showed cranial artery uptake in none of patients. Conclusions US and FDG-PET/CT are both valid tools to detect extracranial involvement. Presence of US extracranial artery inflammation is consistent with FDG-PET/CT examination, although a negative US scan does not rule out extracranial involvement. Our data support the use of US as first-line investigation in patients suspected of cranial, but also extracranial LVV.
Background: Data on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on fibromyalgia (FM) patients are lacking. FM patients often experience clinical impairment with stress situations.The objective of this study was to determine whether severity of FM increases because of confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: Prospective study including patients from the Combined Index of Severity of Fibromyalgia (ICAF) cohort who met the 2010 ACR FM criteria. In this cohort, all patients have a periodical evaluation of their quality of life through two questionnaires, the ICAF -which assesses the ability to perform daily living activities, anxiety and depression-, and through the Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC), which assesses overall change after a therapeutical intervention. Pre and post-confinement measurements were analyzed. Inferential statistical analysis and ANOVA for repeated measurements were used.Results: A total of 93 patients received a phone consultation, (95.5% females), mean (SD) age of 48.23 (8.38) years. Four patients were excluded as presenting COVID-19 and 51 (57%) completed the post-confinement ICAF. Following confinement, 25 (49%) patients got worse (group worse) and 26 (51%) patients experienced no change or improved (group stable). Comparisons between pre and post confinement ICAF did not show significant differences in both groups. Passive coping was significantly different in group worse in pre-confinement evaluation. In the 80% of patients with passive coping predominance there were no change in coping strategy.Conclusions: No clinical impairment due to COVID-19 confinement occurred. The perceived worsening among FM patients relies primarily on how patients cope with their disease, without a real impact on clinical manifestations.
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that often requires biological therapy to control its activity. Medication persistence and adherence are important aspects on which we have scarce information. We performed a longitudinal, retrospective, and observational study based on data from the daily clinical management of JIA patients. We recorded clinical remission at 6 and 12 months. Persistence of biological therapy was evaluated using Kaplan–Meier curves, and adherence was assessed using the medication possession ratio (MPR). We included 68 patients who received biological therapy. Of these, 11 (16.2%) and 5 (7.4%) required a second and third drug, respectively. The persistence rate for biological therapy at 5 years was 64%, with no differences between the first and second lines. Adherence was high during the first year of treatment (MPR80: 96.3%) and also in the second and third years (MPR80: 85.2% and 91.8%, respectively). Persistence and adherence to biological therapy were remarkably high in our JIA cohort. Adherence to biological treatments could be related to a higher probability of fulfilling the Wallace remission criteria at 6 months, although this was not confirmed at 12 months.
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