BackgroundPrimary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that involves the exocrine glands and internal organs. pSS leads to destruction and loss of secretory function due to intense lymphoplasmacytic infiltration. Therapeutic options include mainly symptomatic and supportive measures, and traditional immunosuppressant drugs have shown no effectiveness in randomized trials. Rituximab (RTX) is a chimeric antibody anti-CD20 that leads to B cell depletion by diverse mechanisms. There is evidence that this drug may be effective for treating pSS. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate Rituximab effectiveness and safety for treating pSS.Methods and FindingsWe conducted a systematic review of RCTs published until December 2015, with no language restriction. We registered a protocol on Plataforma Brasil (40654814.6.0000.5505) and developed search strategies for the following scientific databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and LILACS. We included adults with established pSS diagnosis and considered the use of Rituximab as intervention and the use of other drugs or placebo as control. Four studies met our eligibility criteria: three with low risk of bias and one with uncertain risk of bias. The total number of participants was 276 (145 RTX, 131 placebo). We assessed the risk of bias of each included study and evaluated the following as primary outcomes: lacrimal gland function, salivary gland function, fatigue improvement and adverse events. We found no significant differences between the groups in the Schirmer test at week 24 meta-analysis (MD 3.59, 95% CI -2.89 to 10.07). Only one study evaluated the lissamine green test and reported a statistically significant difference between the groups at week 24 (MD -2.00, 95% CI -3.52 to -0.48). There was a significant difference between the groups regarding salivary flow rate (MD 0.09, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.16) and improvement in fatigue VAS at weeks 6 (RR 3.98, 95% CI 1.61 to 9.82) and week 16 (RR 3.08, 95% CI 1.21 to 7.80).ConclusionsAccording to moderate quality evidence, the treatment with a single RTX course in patients with SSp presents discrete effect for improving lacrimal gland function. Low-quality evidence indicates the potential of this drug for improving salivary flow. According to low quality evidence, no differences were observed in the evaluation after 24 weeks regarding fatigue reduction (30% VAS), serious adverse events occurrence, quality of life improvement and disease activity. With a very low level of evidence, there was no improvement in oral dryness VAS evaluation.

BackgroundIn Duchenne muscular dystrophy, functional deficits seem to arise from body misalignment, deconditioning, and obesity secondary to weakness and immobility. The question remains about the effects of postural deviations on the functional balance of these children. ObjectivesTo identify and quantify postural deviations in children with DMD in comparison to non-affected children (eutrophic and overweight/obese), exploring relationships between posture and function.MethodThis case-control study evaluated 29 participants aged 6 to 11 years: 10 DMD (DG), 10 eutrophic (EG), and 9 overweight/obese (OG). Digital photogrammetry and SAPo program were used to measure postural alignment and the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) was used to measure balance. The Kruskall-Wallis and Dunn post-hoc tests were used for inter-group comparison of posture and balance. Spearman's coefficient tested the correlation between postural and balance variables. ResultsThe horizontal pelvic alignment data indicated that the anteversion of the DG was similar to that of the OG and twice that of the EG (p<0.05). Compared to the EG, the DG and OG showed an increased forward position of the center of mass (p<0.05). There was a moderate and weak correlation between the PBS score and horizontal pelvic alignment (0.58 and 0.47-left/right). The PBS showed a weak correlation with asymmetries in the sagittal plane (-0.39). The PBS scores for the OG and EG suggest that obesity did not have a deleterious effect on balance. ConclusionsThe balance deficit in children with DMD was accompanied by an increased forward position of the center of mass and significant pelvic anteversion that constitutes a compensatory strategy to guarantee similar performance to the children not affected by the disease.

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Objetivo: Avaliar a qualidade atual de evidências quanto à eficácia da marcha robótica com suspensão de peso corporal em indivíduos com lesão medular, com ênfase no desempenho da marcha. Método: O levantamento bibliográfico foi realizado nas bases PubMed, LILACS e EMBASE referentes às publicações de ensaios clínicos dos últimos doze anos (2000-2012), utilizando-se a relação entre as palavras chave Spinal cord injury AND ( gait OR walking OR deambulation) reahbilitation AND robotic AND ( lokomat OR ReoAmbulator OR Formador Gait). Resultados: Dos oito estudos selecionados, apenas um não observou melhora no padrão de desempenho da marcha. Dos estudos que encontraram melhora, 6 encontraram melhora estatisticamente significativa e um não encontraram nenhuma diferença significativa, apesar de uma tendência de melhora ter sido observada. As conclusões destes estudos foram obtidas por meio de ferramentas de avaliação como o teste de caminhada de 6 minutos e de 10 metros, MIF (medida de independência funcional, WISCI II (Índice de caminhada de Lesão Medular), entre outros. Alguns estudos apontam uma diminuição na necessidade de órteses e dispositivos auxiliares nesse grupo. Quanto à qualidade metodológica, seis artigos apresentaram escores inferiores a 3 pontos e apenas um artigo teve a pontuação máxima de 5 na escala JADAD (baixa qualidade pontuação inferior a 3) Implicação/Impacto na reabilitação. Conclusão: Apesar da pequena quantidade de artigos encontrados, baixa qualidade metodológica e o fato desta ser uma intervenção nova e de alto custo, os resultados são significativos quando comparados com a terapia física convencional e outras técnicas bem estabelecidas na fisioterapia.