Objetivos: Fibromialgia (FM) é uma síndrome complexa, caracterizada por uma dor musculoesquelética crônica duradoura e difusa, derivada de causas não inflamatórias e classicamente associada à presença de pontos sensíveis específicos. No entanto, estudos destacaram outros sintomas importantes associados à má qualidade de vida (QDV) em pacientes com FM, por exemplo, distúrbios do sono e alexitimia. Esse estudo teve por objetivo investigar os padrões de dor, sono e alexitimia de pacientes com FM em um centro terciário brasileiro. Métodos: 20 pacientes com FM acompanhados na clínica ambulatorial de reumatologia de um centro terciário brasileiro (Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto - FAMERP, São Paulo, Brasil) e 20 pacientes sem FM provenientes de outros serviços ambulatoriais da FAMERP completaram um questionário clínico e sociodemográfico, o Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), o Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), o Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) e o SF-36 (WHOQOL). Resultados: Os pacientes com FM tiveram desempenhos piores em todas as dimensões de QDV do SF-36 e escores mais altos no PSQI (P = 0,01) e no TAS-20 (P = 0,02). Pacientes com FM também tiveram escores significativamente mais altos em todos os domínios específicos do PSQI e TAS-20. Discussão: Os presentes dados concordavam com a literatura, evidenciando pior desempenho de pacientes com FM no impacto da dor, queixas de sono e maior presença de alexitimia. Conclusão: Estudos evidenciaram, além das queixas de dor, a presença de sintomas importantes e frequentemente subdiagnosticados, em pacientes com FM, como queixas relativas ao sono e alexitimia. Um conhecimento mais aprofundado desses distúrbios poderia melhorar a abordagem e o tratamento dos pacientes com FM.

Objectives: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a complex syndrome that is characterized by lasting and diffuse chronic musculoskeletal pain, derived from non-inflammatory causes and classically associated with the presence of specific tender points. However, studies have highlighted other important symptoms associated with a lower quality of life (QOL) in FM, such as sleep disturbances and alexithymia. This study aimed to investigate the pain, sleep and alexithymia patterns of FM patients treated in a Brazilian tertiary center. Methods: 20 patients with FM who were followed-up in the Rheumatology outpatient clinic of a Brazilian tertiary center (Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto - FAMERP, São Paulo, Brazil) and 20 patients without FM from other outpatient services of the FAMERP completed a clinical and socio-demographic questionnaire, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the SF-36 (WHOQOL). Results: The patients with FM presented worse performances in all QOL dimensions of the SF-36 and higher scores on the PSQI (p = 0.01), and the TAS-20 (p = 0.02). Patients with FM also scored significantly higher in all specific domains of PSQI and TAS-20. Discussion: The present data were in accordance with literature, disclosing a worse performance of patients with FM on pain impact, sleep complains and more presence of alexithymia. Conclusion: Studies have disclosed the presence of important and frequently underdiagnosed symptoms beyond pain complaints in FM, such as sleep complaints and alexithymia, and a better knowledge of such disturbances might improve FM patients' approach and treatment.

Objective: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a devastating condition that causes intense disruption of patients' lives and relationships. Proper understanding of BPD neurobiology could help provide the basis for earlier and effective interventions. As neuroimaging studies of patients with BPD are still scarce, volumetric and geometric features of the cortical structure were assessed to ascertain whether structural cortical alterations are present in BPD patients. Methods: Twenty-five female outpatients with BPD underwent psychiatric evaluation (SCID-I and II) and a 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scan. The control group comprised 25 healthy age-matched females. Images were processed with the FreeSurfer package, which allows analysis of cortical morphology with more detailed descriptions of volumetric and geometric features of cortical structure. Results: Compared with controls, BPD patients exhibited significant cortical abnormalities in the fronto-limbic and paralimbic regions of both hemispheres. Conclusion: Significant morphologic abnormalities were observed in patients with BPD on comparison with a healthy control group through a multimodal approach. This study highlights the involvement of regions associated with mood regulation, impulsivity, and social behavior in BPD patients and presents a new approach for further investigation through a method of structural analysis based on distinct and simultaneous volumetric and geometric parameters.