Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · Jul 2015
Expert panel consensus on assessment checklists for a rheumatology objective structured clinical examination.
While several regional fellowship groups conduct rheumatology objective structured clinical examinations (ROSCEs), none have been validated for use across programs. We aimed to establish agreement among subspecialty experts regarding checklist items for several ROSCE stations. ⋯ This single-round expert panel survey established consensus on 133 items to assess on 11 proposed ROSCE stations. The method used in this study, which can engage a diverse geographic representation and employs rigorous statistical methods to establish checklist content agreement, can be used in any medical field.
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Arthritis care & research · Jul 2015
Cardiac biomarkers in systemic sclerosis: contribution of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin in addition to N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide.
To measure plasma concentrations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (HS-cTnT) and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) and age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects, and to examine the contribution of traditional cardiovascular risk factors and SSc features to the concentrations of these 2 cardiac biomarkers. ⋯ HS-cTnT and NT-proBNP concentrations are increased in patients with SSc, even in those who are free of cardiovascular risk factors. These easily obtained biomarkers may be useful for systematic evaluation and stratification of SSc patients, especially to identify those at risk of pulmonary hypertension.