Articles

Association of lifestyle elements with self-rated wellness and health status in patients with Behcet’s disease

Assessment of the association of various lifestyle factors and wellness and health status in patients with Behcet’s disease was the main goal of this study.

Authors: Maryam Masoumi, Reihane Tabaraii, Saeed Shakiba, Mansoureh Shakeri and Abbas Smiley

Hepatitis E Virus and rheumatic diseases: what do rheumatologists need to know?

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) represents the most common cause of acute hepatitis and jaundice in the world. About 2 million of infection cases occur each year in Europe, mainly as autochthonous anthropozoonosis, an...

Authors: Salvatore Di Bartolomeo, Francesco Carubbi and Paola Cipriani

Patient insights on living with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy and the limitations of disease activity measurement methods – a qualitative study

The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are chronic autoimmune conditions, typically resulting in proximal muscle weakness and impacting upon quality of life. Accurate measurement of IIM disease activity...

Authors: Alexander Oldroyd, William Dixon, Hector Chinoy and Kelly Howells

Long-term effectiveness and safety of infliximab, golimumab and golimumab-IV in rheumatoid arthritis patients from a Canadian prospective observational registry

Long-term clinical registries are essential tools to evaluate new therapies in a patient population that differs from those in randomized clinical trials. The objectives are to describe the profile of rheumato...

Authors: Proton Rahman, Philip Baer, Ed Keystone, Denis Choquette, Carter Thorne, Boulos Haraoui, Andrew Chow, Rafat Faraawi, Wojciech Olszynski, John Kelsall, Emmanouil Rampakakis, Allen J. Lehman and Francois Nantel

Pembrolizumab on pre-existing inclusion body myositis: a case report

Cases of exacerbation of pre-existing neuromuscular diseases induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have rarely been reported because patients with autoimmune diseases have generally been excluded from...

Authors: Naohiro Uchio, Atsushi Unuma, Toshiyuki Kakumoto, Masao Osaki, Yoshitaka Zenke, Kenichi Sakuta, Akatsuki Kubota, Yoshikazu Uesaka, Tatsushi Toda and Jun Shimizu

Elucidation of predictors of disease progression in patients with relapsing polychondritis at the onset: potential impact on patient monitoring

In patients with relapsing polychondritis (RP), organ involvement developed in those with progressive and/or long disease courses. For their management, elucidation of a subgroup suggesting disease progression...

Authors: Jun Shimizu, Yoshihisa Yamano, Kimito Kawahata and Noboru Suzuki

Impact of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors and methotrexate on diabetes mellitus among patients with inflammatory arthritis

To determine whether initiation of a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) or methotrexate improves hemoglobin A1c in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or ankylosing spondyli...

Authors: Santhi Mantravadi, Michael George, Colleen Brensinger, Min Du, Joshua F. Baker and Alexis Ogdie

Serum 20S proteasome levels are associated with disease activity in MPO-ANCA-associated microscopic polyangiitis

Proteasomes are found in both the cell nucleus and cytoplasm and play a major role in the ubiquitin-dependent and -independent non-lysosomal pathways of intracellular protein degradation. Proteasomes are also ...

Authors: Hiroshi Maruyama, Kouichi Hirayama, Marina Yamashita, Kentaro Ohgi, Ryuji Tsujimoto, Mamiko Takayasu, Homare Shimohata and Masaki Kobayashi

Halo score (temporal artery, its branches and axillary artery) as a diagnostic, prognostic and disease monitoring tool for Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA)

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a common large vessel vasculitis of the elderly, often associated with sight loss. Glucocorticoids (GC remain the mainstay of treatment, although biologic treatments have been app...

Authors: Alwin Sebastian, Kornelis S. M. van der Geest, Fiona Coath, Prisca Gondo, Abdul Kayani, Craig Mackerness, Bernard Hadebe, Sue Innes, Jo Jackson and Bhaskar Dasgupta

The impact of gout as described by patients, using the lens of The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF): a qualitative study

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) aims to comprehensively describe the ways in which a person’s health condition affects their life. This study aimed to contribute to...

Authors: Isobel Cairns, Karen Lindsay, Nicola Dalbeth, Cesar Díaz-Torné, Maria Antònia Pou, Basilio Rodríguez Diez, Enriqueta Pujol-Ribera, Charlotte Panter, Rob Arbuckle, Sophi Tatlock and William J. Taylor

Use of rituximab in idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis

Retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF) is characterized by the proliferation of fibrous tissue in the retroperitoneum. The majority of RPF cases are due to idiopathic or IgG4-related disease. Recent studies on IgG4-re...

Authors: Veronika Boyeva, Hatim Alabsi, Michael A. Seidman, Ryan Paterson, Jason Kur, Luke Y. C. Chen, Silvia D. Chang and Mollie Carruthers

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced inflammatory arthritis: a qualitative study identifying unmet patient needs and care gaps

Patients treated for cancer with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) may develop autoimmune adverse events, including ICI-induced inflammatory arthritis (IA). ICI-induced IA treatment requires balancing immune ...

Authors: Laura C. Cappelli, Suzanne M. Grieb, Ami A. Shah, Clifton O. Bingham III and Ana-Maria Orbai

Room for improvement in non-pharmacological systemic sclerosis care? — a cross-sectional online survey of 650 patients

To gain insight in the use of current systemic sclerosis (SSc) care provided by health professionals from the patient perspective. We focused on referral reasons, treatment goals, the alignment with unmet care...

Authors: Juliane K. Stöcker, Madelon C. Vonk, Frank H. J. van den Hoogen, Maria W. G. Nijhuis-van der Sanden, Julia Spierings, J. Bart Staal, Ton Satink and Cornelia H. M. van den Ende

The pharmacological and clinical aspects behind dose loading of biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in auto-immune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs): rationale and systematic narrative review of clinical evidence

Dose loading of biological disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in auto-immune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs) is performed to achieve steady state drug concentrations earlier after treatment start comp...

Authors: Gerlienke E. Geurts-Voerman, Lise M. Verhoef, Bart J. F. van den Bemt and Alfons A. den Broeder

Vitamin D and early rheumatoid arthritis

Previous studies have linked rheumatoid arthritis (RA) risk and disease activity with vitamin D-deficiency (low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD)), but a causal role for vitamin D in RA is still unclear, with ...

Authors: Stephanie R. Harrison, Gurpreet Jutley, Danyang Li, Ilfita Sahbudin, Andrew Filer, Martin Hewison and Karim Raza

The association between rheumatoid arthritis and periodontal disease in a population-based cross-sectional case-control study

The association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontitis remains unclear.

Authors: Stefan Renvert, Johan Sanmartin Berglund, G. Rutger Persson and Maria K. Söderlin

Line blot immunoassays in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: retrospective review of diagnostic accuracy and factors predicting true positive results

Line blot immunoassays (LIA) for myositis-specific (MSA) and myositis-associated (MAA) autoantibodies have become commercially available. In the largest study of this kind, we evaluated the clinical performanc...

Authors: Fergus To, Clara Ventín-Rodríguez, Shuayb Elkhalifa, James B. Lilleker and Hector Chinoy

Oral Abstracts of scientific contributions to GCOM 2019

Authors:

First-year drug therapy of new-onset rheumatoid and undifferentiated arthritis: a nationwide register-based study

In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated the drug therapies used for early rheumatoid (RA) and undifferentiated (UA) arthritis patients.

Authors: Paula Muilu, Vappu Rantalaiho, Hannu Kautiainen, Lauri J. Virta, Johan G. Eriksson and Kari Puolakka

Patient-Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU) as reorganized support for increased patient involvement – focus group discussions among patients’ with inflammatory arthritis

Inflammatory Arthritis is characterized by lifelong medical treatment and an unpredictable trajectory because of the fluctuating nature of the diseases. Proactive disease management is recommended, which inclu...

Authors: Bianca Bech, Jens Jørgen Lykkegaard, Tine Lundbak, Heidi Morsø Schrøder, Line Mette Birkeland, Mette Lund Schlyter, Lotte Hanne Hansen, Lillian Dalsgaard and Bente Appel Esbensen

Initial seronegative immune-mediated necrotising myopathy with subsequent anti-HMGCR antibody development and response to rituximab: case report

Immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM) is characterised by severe muscle weakness and necrosis with a paucity of inflammation on muscle biopsy. Around 60% of cases are associated with antibodies to the si...

Authors: Rhys Thomas, Su-Ann Yeoh, Rupert Berkeley, Andrew Woods, Mike Stevens, Silvia Marino and Aleksandar Radunovic

Points to consider in cardiovascular disease risk management among patients with rheumatoid arthritis living in South Africa, an unequal middle income country

It is plausible that optimal cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk management differs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from low or middle income compared to high income populations. This study aimed at p...

Authors: Ahmed Solomon, Anne E. Stanwix, Santos Castañeda, Javier Llorca, Carlos Gonzalez-Juanatey, Bridget Hodkinson, Benitha Romela, Mahmood M. T. M. Ally, Ajesh B. Maharaj, Elsa M. Van Duuren, Joyce J. Ziki, Mpoti Seboka, Makgotso Mohapi, Barend J. Jansen Van Rensburg, Gareth S. Tarr, Kavita Makan…

Real-world questions and concerns about disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs): a retrospective analysis of questions to a medicine call center

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) have transformed the treatment of numerous autoimmune and inflammatory diseases but their perceived risk of harm may be a barrier to use.

Authors: Hiba EL Masri, Samantha A. Hollingworth, Mieke van Driel, Helen Benham and Treasure M. McGuire

MicroRNA and mRNA profiling in the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies

The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) are heterogeneous autoimmune conditions of skeletal muscle inflammation and weakness. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNA which regulate gene expression o...

Authors: Joanna E. Parkes, Anastasia Thoma, Adam P. Lightfoot, Philip J. Day, Hector Chinoy and Janine A. Lamb

Comparative evaluation of efficacy, pharmacodynamics, and safety of Hetero’s adalimumab (Mabura®, Hetero Biopharma Ltd.) and reference adalimumab (Humira®, Abbvie Inc.) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis on concomitant methotrexate therapy

Our study aimed to compare efficacy and safety of Hetero’s adalimumab (Mabura®, Hetero Biopharma Limited) versus reference adalimumab (Humira®, Abbvie Inc.) in Indian patients with active rheumatoid arthritis ...

Authors: Shubhadeep Sinha, Biswadip Ghosh, Syamasis Bandyopadhyay, Firdaus Fatima, Vamsi Krishna Bandi, Pankaj Thakur, Bala Reddy, Sreenivasa Chary, Leela Talluri, Ajay Gupta, Amit Ramchandra Kale, Anil Kumar Gupta, Ashok Kumar P, Diwakar Reddy, Younus Mohammed, Soma Shekar…

Barriers and facilitators for screening and treatment of hyperlipidemia among patients with inflammatory arthritis

Patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA), defined as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The frequency of screening and treatment o...

Authors: Iris Navarro-Millán, Sarah R. Young, Sally Shurbaji, Chastity McDavid, Anna Cornelius-Schecter, Bernadette Johnson, Andrea L. Cherrington, Liana Fraenkel, Susan M. Goodman, Jeffrey R. Curtis, Shilpa Venkatachalam and Monika M. Safford

The role of advanced MRI in the development of treat-to-target therapeutic strategies, patient stratification and phenotyping in rheumatoid arthritis

In this commentary, we discuss the potential of advanced imaging, particularly Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the objective assessment of the inflammatory process in rheum...

Authors: Ali Mobasheri, Mark Hinton, Faiq Shaikh and Olga Kubassova

Characterization of the interleukin-17 effect on articular cartilage in a translational model: an explorative study

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive, chronic disease characterized by articular cartilage destruction. The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17 levels have been reported elevated in serum and synovial fluid of OA ...

Authors: Dovile Sinkeviciute, Anders Aspberg, Yi He, Anne-Christine Bay-Jensen and Patrik Önnerfjord

The utility of dual energy computed tomography in the management of axial gout: case reports and literature review

Severe spinal pain is an unusual presentation of gout. Due to its rarity and the difficulty of obtaining joint fluid or tissue for crystal analysis, dual energy computed tomography (DECT) may be a useful imagi...

Authors: Jeremy X. Wang, Beverly Ng, Haesung Bak, David Spencer, Nicholas Manolios and Peter K. K. Wong

¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose–positron emission tomography/computed tomography for the diagnosis of polymyalgia-like illnesses: a retrospective study

Various inflammatory conditions may present with musculoskeletal symptoms similar to those of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). We investigated findings on ¹⁸F-fluorodexoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography/c...

Authors: Hideyuki Horikoshi, Takashi Nakanishi, Katsumi Tamura, Fumihiko Kimura and Kenji Itoh

The impact of the illness label ‘gout’ on illness and treatment perceptions in Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders)

Despite contemporary advances in understanding pathogenesis and effective management of gout, beliefs about the disease continue to be focused on gout as a self-inflicted illness. The illness label itself may ...

Authors: Nicola Dalbeth, Meihana Douglas, Kate MacKrill, Leanne Te Karu, Maria Kleinstäuber and Keith J. Petrie

Can the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scales be adapted for use in the context of osteoarthritis with general practitioners and physiotherapists?

Conservative, first-line treatments (exercise, education and weight-loss if appropriate) for hip and knee joint osteoarthritis are underused despite the known benefits. Clinicians’ beliefs can affect the advic...

Authors: Daniel W. O’Brien, Sandra Bassett, Valerie Wright-St Clair and Richard J. Siegert

Healthcare resource utilization and costs associated with inflammatory bowel disease among patients with chronic inflammatory diseases: a retrospective cohort study

Chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs; ankylosing spondylitis [AS], psoriatic arthritis [PsA], psoriasis [PsO], or rheumatoid arthritis [RA]) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD; Crohn’s disease and ulcerative c...

Authors: David P. Hudesman, Soumya D. Chakravarty, Bruno Emond, Lorie A. Ellis, Patrick Lefebvre, Kay Sadik and Jose U. Scher

Flare or foe? - Mycobacterium marinum infection mimicking rheumatoid arthritis tenosynovitis: case report and literature review

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis affecting about 1% of the population. With the advent of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs the disease can be well controlled in many...

Authors: Nils Schubert, Tillmann Schill, Marlene Plüß and Peter Korsten

Nutrition in RMDs: is it really food for thought? Focus on rheumatoid arthritis

The relationship between food and health is known since the antiquity and in the field of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), mainly rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a large number of studies has been pub...

Authors: Alessia Alunno, Elena Nikiphorou, Elena Philippou, Claire Daien, Dieter Wiek, Marios Kouloumas and Maurizio Cutolo

Views of primary care physicians and rheumatologists regarding screening and treatment of hyperlipidemia among patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Despite high risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, screening and treatment of hyperlipidemia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is suboptimal. We asked primary care physicians (PCPs) and rhe...

Authors: Iris Navarro-Millán, Anna Cornelius-Schecter, Ronan J. O’Beirne, Melanie S. Morris, Geyanne E. Lui, Susan M. Goodman, Andrea L. Cherrington, Liana Fraenkel, Jeffrey R. Curtis and Monika M. Safford

Unmet needs in ankylosing spondylitis patients receiving tumour necrosis factor inhibitor therapy; results from a large multinational real-world study

Symptoms and comorbidities of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) considerably reduce health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and ability to work. This real-world study assessed rates of tumour necrosis factor inhibito...

Authors: A. Deodhar, V. Strand, P. G. Conaghan, E. Sullivan, S. Blackburn, H. Tian, K. Gandhi, S. M. Jugl and R. Alten

The incidence of depression and anxiety in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

As awareness for the importance of mental health continues to expand in rheumatology, it is important to understand the epidemiology of psychiatric complications in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with the ultimat...

Authors: Jamie YE. Park, Alyssa M. Howren, Enav Z. Zusman, John M. Esdaile and Mary A. De Vera

Racial disparities in pre-operative pain, function and disease activity for patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing Total knee or Total hip Arthroplasty: a New York based study

Black and Hispanic patients with osteoarthritis have more pain and worse function than Whites at the time of arthroplasty. Whether this is true for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is unknown.

Authors: J. Hirsch, B. Mehta, J. Finik, I. Navarro-Millan, C. Brantner, S. Mirza, M. Figgie, M. Parks, L. Russell, D. Orange and S. Goodman

Successful long-term remission through tapering tocilizumab infusions: a single-center prospective study

Strategic drug therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with prolonged remission is not well defined. According to recent guidelines, tapering biological Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (bDMARDs) ...

Authors: Chayma Ladhari, Pierre Le Blay, Thierry Vincent, Ahmed Larbi, Emma Rubenstein, Rosanna Ferreira Lopez, Christian Jorgensen and Yves-Marie Pers

The effect of glucocorticoid therapy on mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and concomitant type II diabetes: a retrospective cohort study

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have increased cardiovascular (CV) and mortality risk. Patients with RA are also frequently prescribed glucocorticoids (GCs) which have been associated with increased ri...

Authors: Ruth E. Costello, Antonia Marsden, Mohammad Movahedi, Mark Lunt, Jenny H. Humphreys, Richard Emsley and William G. Dixon

Use of antidepressants and benzodiazepine-related hypnotics before and after initiation of TNF-α inhibitors or non-biological systemic treatment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are autoimmune disorders associated with an increased risk for depression, anxiety and sleeping problems. The objective of t...

Authors: Philip Brenner, Anna Citarella, Louise Wingård and Anders Sundström

Two cases of perforated corneal ulcers complicating rheumatoid arthritis treated successfully by biological therapy

Peripheral ulcerative keratitis (PUK) is a severe inflammatory ocular disease that can affect patients with a long history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The use of biotherapy has revolutionized the treatment o...

Authors: Sara Benchérifa, Bouchra Amine, Imane El Binoune, Samira Rostom and Rachid Bahiri

Ultrasound detects synovitis in replaced and other surgically operated joints in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Joint replacements continue to occur during a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient’s lifetime despite significant advances in available treatment options. The purpose of this study was to examine and quantify syn...

Authors: Evan A. Choate, Gurjit S. Kaeley, Jenny Brook, Roy D. Altman, John D. FitzGerald, Astrid R. Floegel-Shetty, David A. Elashoff and Veena K. Ranganath

S100A4 is elevated in axial spondyloarthritis: a potential link to disease severity

S100A4 is a member of calcium binding S100 protein family well known for its role in cancer progression and metastasis. Nevertheless, S100A4 also serves as a negative regulator of bone formation. Dickkopf-1 (D...

Authors: Barbora Šumová, Lucie Andrés Cerezo, Hana Hulejová, Klára Prajzlerová, Michal Tomčík, Kristýna Bubová, Jan Štěpán, Mária Filková, Tereza Kropáčková, Mariam Grigorian, Karel Pavelka, Jiří Vencovský and Ladislav Šenolt

A case of localized tracheobronchial relapsing polychondritis with positive matrilin-1 staining

Relapsing polychondritis (RPC) is a rare progressive autoimmune disease characterized by inflammation in the cartilage of multiple organs. Tracheobronchial involvement appears in nearly half of RPC patients du...

Authors: Tomonori Makiguchi, Akira Koarai, Chihiro Inoue, Yayoi Aoyama, Taizo Hirano, Takashi Ohe, Tomohiro Ichikawa, Yutaka Shishikura, Hanae Komuro, Yoko Tsukita, Naoki Tode, Tadahisa Numakura, Tsutomu Saito, Teruyuki Sato, Yoshiya Mitsuhashi, Tsutomu Tamada…

Dual energy CT findings in gout with rapid kilovoltage-switching source with gemstone scintillator detector

A definite diagnosis of gout requires demonstration of monosodium urate crystals in synovial fluid or in tophi, which in clinical practice today seldom is done. Dual energy CT (DECT) has repeatedly been shown ...

Authors: Elin Svensson, Ylva Aurell, Lennart T. H. Jacobsson, Anton Landgren, Valgerdur Sigurdardottir and Mats Dehlin

Patients’ perspectives of outcomes after total knee and total hip arthroplasty: a nominal group study

While total joint replacements (TJR) are frequently performed, there is little qualitative research to define the outcomes most important to patients.

Authors: Susan M. Goodman, Bella Mehta, Serene Z. Mirza, Mark P. Figgie, Michael Alexiades, Jose Rodriguez, Peter Sculco, Michael Parks and Jasvinder A. Singh

Patient perspectives on the pathway to psoriatic arthritis diagnosis: results from a web-based survey of patients in the United States

There are limited real-world data on the diagnostic experiences of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA), including medical care sought and potential barriers to diagnosis. We aim to describe patient experie...

Authors: Alexis Ogdie, W. Benjamin Nowell, Eddie Applegate, Kelly Gavigan, Shilpa Venkatachalam, Marie de la Cruz, Emuella Flood, Ethan J. Schwartz, Beverly Romero and Peter Hur

Factors that influence rheumatologists’ anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha prescribing decisions: a qualitative study

Treatment decisions for any disease are usually informed by reference to published clinical guidelines or recommendations. These recommendations can be developed to improve the relative cost-effectiveness of h...

Authors: Sean P. Gavan, Gavin Daker-White, Katherine Payne and Anne Barton