Scandinavian journal of rheumatology
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialLocal NSAID gel (eltenac) in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. A double blind study comparing eltenac with oral diclofenac and placebo gel.
In a randomized, double blind, multicentre study with 4 weeks follow-up of 290 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee joint, a topical NSAID (eltenac) was compared with oral diclofenac and placebo. The main outcome, Lequesne's Index and pain by VAS showed no statistically significant differences between neither of the active treatments and placebo for the total study population. ⋯ Local skin reactions were twice as frequent in the eltenac than in the placebo group. Taking into account the nature of the treatment for a chronic disease like OA, our results indicate that eltenac gel could be a safe alternative to oral NSAIDs.
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Autoimmune diseases can affect the blood vessels, causing systemic vasculitis. Although testicular manifestation of some autoimmune diseases is not uncommon, only a few cases of acute orchitis are described in the literature. The underlying pathological condition in testicular manifestations of autoimmune diseases is severe vasculitis causing inflammation and infarction. In patients with recurrent episodes of scrotal swelling and pain, testicular vasculitis as the first sign of a systemic disease should be taken into consideration.
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1997
Increased concentrations of homocysteine in the cerebrospinal fluid in patients with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Twelve outpatients, all women, who fulfilled the criteria for both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome were rated on 15 items of the Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale (CPRS-15). These items were chosen to constitute a proper neurasthenic subscale. Blood laboratory levels were generally normal. ⋯ The correlations between vitamin B12 and clinical variables of the CPRS-scale in this study indicate that low CSF-B12 values are of clinical importance. Vitamin B12 deficiency causes a deficient remethylation of HCY and is therefore probably contributing to the increased homocysteine levels found in our patient group. We conclude that increased homocysteine levels in the central nervous system characterize patients fulfilling the criteria for both fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1997
Comparative StudyCold pressor pain: comparing responses of juvenile arthritis patients and their parents.
The objective of this study was to compare the reactions to experimental cold pressor pain of Juvenile Arthritis (JA) patients, healthy children, and their parents. ⋯ The results suggest that JA patients may differ from healthy children with regard to their responses to experimental pain, and that pain responses of both JA patients and healthy children could be related to the pain response of their parents.
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Scand. J. Rheumatol. · Jan 1997
Case ReportsSLE with death from acute massive pulmonary hemorrhage caused by disseminated strongyloidiasis.
We describe a case of disseminated strongyloidiasis involving a female patient with active systemic erythematosus (SLE). The cause of death was massive pulmonary hemorrhage induced by a filariform larvae infection. This was initially diagnosed during examination of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid just 2 days before her death. The case indicated that immunosuppressed individuals would be paid attention to possible parasitic infection prior to starting therapy even in non-endemic areas as well as other microorganisms.