Clin Exp Rheumatol
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To translate and adapt the University of California, Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract Instrument 2.0 (UCLA SCTC GIT 2.0) into Dutch and validate it among Dutch systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. ⋯ The Dutch GIT 2.0 questionnaire showed good internal consistency, construct validity and test-retest reliability.
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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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In systemic sclerosis (SSc), the frequent involvement of hand and face leads to their disability. We aimed to assess influence of hand and face disability on global disability and Health related Quality of life (HRQoL). ⋯ dSSc patients present higher global and local disability, and lower HRQoL in SPI than lSSc patients. Local disabilities, assessed by CHDFS and MHISS, are independently related to global disability and HRQoL.
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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.