Clin Exp Rheumatol
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Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Are ultrasonographic signs of inflammation predictors for response to intra-articular glucocorticoids in knee osteoarthritis?
To investigate the predictive value of ultrasound (US) characteristics for the effect of intra-articular glucocorticoids in knee osteoarthritis (OA). ⋯ No patient, disease or US characteristic of inflammation, turned out to be a reliable and clinically meaningful predictor for the effect of intra-articular glucocorticoids after four weeks in knee OA.
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Polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) is an autoimmune disease characterised by skin and muscle inflammation, internal organ involvement and serum disease-specific autoantibodies. The recently identified anti-MDA5 (melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5) antibodies are associated with clinically amyopathic DM (CADM), rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease, severe skin manifestations, and poor prognosis. Our objective was to examine the clinical significance of anti-MDA5 antibodies in a cohort of European Caucasian patients with PM/DM, considering that data on anti-MDA5 serology are limited to Asian and US cohorts. ⋯ Our study on European patients with PM/DM confirms that anti-MDA5 antibodies are not uncommon. All anti-MDA5 (+) cases are affected by CADM with typical skin disease, while rapidly progressive pulmonary involvement was diagnosed only in one case. Further studies in larger cohorts are necessary to define the clinical significance of anti-MDA5 antibodies in European PM/DM.
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The aim of this study was to utilise the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative in Systemic Sclerosis (QuERI-SSc) to measure and reduce a perceived gap in the diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc). ⋯ The screening algorithm was successful in identifying patients with mild impairment. Although specific tools were recommended for screening PAH in patients with SSc, results indicate that significant diagnostic care gaps still exist in the general rheumatology community. Better understanding and adherence to guidelines could improve the care and, ideally, outcomes of these high-risk patients.
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During cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) compromised pulmonary vasculature in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) may lead to increases in pulmonary arterial pressures (PAP) and decreased oxygen uptake. We hypothesised that this may lead into a disproportional heart rate (HR) increase with a corresponding V'O₂/HR breakpoint and relates to systolic PAP at rest. ⋯ SSc patients with a V'O₂/HR breakpoint are characterised by a decreased oxygen uptake, likely caused by sudden PAP increases during exercise. Importantly, in patients with normal resting SPAP pathologic V'O₂/HR slopes were observed. This suggests that these patients are at risk for developing pulmonary hypertension.
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A single-centre retrospective longitudinal study to investigate the predictive value of KL-6 serum levels for the outcome of interstitial lung fibrosis in a large systemic sclerosis (SSc) patient cohort. ⋯ KL-6 can be used as a lung fibrosis severity marker, but its role as a marker for disease activity is questionable. Furthermore, following cyclophosphamide treatment serum KL-6 levels may decrease independently of the lung function parameters.