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Aims: To describe the methodology of the EPISER 2016 (study of the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in adult population in Spain), as well its strengths and limitations. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's syndrome (SS), osteoarthritis (knee, hip, hands, and cervical and lumbar spine), fibromyalgia, gout and clinical osteoporotic fracture., Material and Method: Population-based, multicenter, cross-sectional study, with the participation of 45 municipalities in the 17 Spanish autonomous communities. The reference population will consist of adults aged 20 years and over residing in Spain. A computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) system will be used for data collection. Diagnostic suspicions and diagnoses received by the participants will be studied by rheumatologists in the referral hospitals in the selected municipalities., Statistical Analysis: the prevalence of the rheumatic diseases will be calculated using estimators and their 95% confidence intervals. Weights will be calculated in each of the sampling stages in accordance with the probability of selection. The distribution of the population in Spain will be obtained from the Spanish Statistics Institute., Conclusions: Sociodemographic and lifestyle changes over the last 16 years justify EPISER 2016. This study will provide current data about the prevalences of RA, AS, PsA, SLE, SS, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, gout and clinical osteoporotic fracture. The results will allow comparisons with studies from other countries and EPISER 2000., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.)

We report one case of dermatomyositis and one of polymyositis refractory to several conventional inmunosupressive therapies, which present a response after treatment with rituximab, enabling steroid dose reduction and a prolonged remission., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)

Therapeutic use of immunosupressive drugs in progressive renal diseases has increased during the last decade. Information concerned severe gonadal damage after such therapy, stresses the need for careful evaluation in each particular case before deciding to use these drugs. Gonadal lesions were investigated in 18 patients who were treated with cyclophosphamide and in one who received chlorambucil at variable doses and length of time; there were frequent relapses in patients with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and with progressive forms of glomerulonephritis. Nine patients were females and received cyclophosphamide therapy at the ages of 11 a 16 years, being evaluated from 11 to 22 years of age with vaginal smears, gonadotropins and 17-ketosteroids. No alterations were found in these parameters and two of the girls became pregnant and had successful deliveries of healthy babies. Ten patients were males; one of them received chlorambucil and all the others received cyclophosphamide at the ages of 8 to 15 years; they were evaluated from 9 to 19 years of age. Because of their ages, gonadal function was not studied in 3 children, but the other 7 showed azoospermia, testicular atrophy was present in four out of these patients in whom testicular biopsy was performed. The patient who received chlorambucil was among this group. From these results and from the literature, we conclude: 1) immunosuppressive therapy is less risky in girls than in boys; 2) it is imperative to evaluate the risk/benefit ratio before deciding this therapy in any case and 3) doses not above 2 mg/kg/day and for periods no longer than 6 weeks may be considered safe.