Arthritis research & therapy
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jun 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialExercise therapy after ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injections in patients with subacromial pain syndrome: a randomized controlled trial.
Subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS) accounts for around 50 % of all cases of shoulder pain. The most commonly used treatments are glucocorticosteroid (steroid) injections and exercise therapy; however, despite treatment SAPS patients often experience relapse of their symptoms. Therefore the clinical effect of combining steroid and exercise therapy is highly relevant to clarify. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate if exercise therapy added to steroid injection in patients with SAPS will improve the effect of the injection therapy on shoulder pain. ⋯ Exercise therapy in the painful shoulder in SAPS patients did not improve the effectiveness of steroid injections for shoulder pain in patients with unilateral SAPS and enlarged subacromial bursa on US examination.
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Arthritis Res. Ther. · Jun 2016
Cyclophosphamide versus mycophenolate mofetil in scleroderma interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) as induction therapy: a single-centre, retrospective analysis.
Scleroderma is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized mainly by skin manifestations and involvement of various visceral organs, especially the lungs. Lung involvement is the leading cause of mortality in patients with scleroderma. There are data to suggest that cyclophosphamide (CYC) and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) are effective in the management of scleroderma interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD) but no head to head comparative data are available to date. ⋯ Both MMF and CYC were equally effective in stabilizing lung function in patients with scleroderma and ILD.