Rheumatology international
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Patients suffering from fibromyalgia (FM) had widespread musculoskeletal pain and stiffness, fatigue, sleep disorders, cognitive impairment and other symptoms, which seriously affects their quality of life (QoL), making it difficult to perform normal activities. Moreover, FM has been associated with a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity than in the general population. Weight reduction has been beneficial in both FM and other rheumatic patients. ⋯ BMI, fM and lM correlated differently with the specific SF-36 scores. BMI had a high negative correlation with emotional role, fM with bodily pain and lM almost with all scores but specially with emotional role, vitality and physical role. The outcome of this study reveals some interesting relationships, which need to be further investigated to improve the management of FM patients.
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Rheumatoid arthritis activity is generally evaluated by using DAS-28 score. But this does not reflect the extent of functional hand impairment, a decisive parameter for patient wellbeing as well as for work disability. Several questionnaires to quantify the hand involvement in RA have been elaborated, amongst which SACRAH has been popular since 2003. ⋯ The study suggests that the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis (as assessed by DAS-28 score) has a poor correlation with hand functions (as assessed by M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH) especially in low disease activity and remission states. Further, M-SACRAH and SF-SACRAH are significantly correlated. Therefore, it is suggested that RA patients should be assessed by SF-SACRAH (which includes five questions only) in addition to DAS-28 scoring for better evaluation of hand functions, a detrimental factor in day to day performance of RA patients.
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Case Reports
Primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis intermingled with papulopustular lesions in a patient with Behçet's disease.
Primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis (PLCA) sometimes shows overlapping with collagen vascular diseases; however, association with Behçet's disease (BD) is rare. We herein report a case of PLCA developing intermingled with papulopustular lesions associated with BD. A 57-year-old woman visited our hospital, complaining of recalcitrant multiple oral aphthae. ⋯ A biopsy specimen from the pustular lesion on the back showed neutrophilic abscess in the epidermis with a number of perivascular inflammatory cells in the upper dermis. Congo-red and Dylon stain revealed amyloid deposition in the papillary dermis. Although association of systemic amyloidosis with BD is occasionally found in the literature, co-occurrence of cutaneous amyloidosis and papulopustular lesions of BD is extremely rare.
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To evaluate the Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) levels in children diagnosed with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), during attack and attack-free periods. The records of a total of 117 children with FMF, diagnosed using the Tel-Hashomer criteria, have been scanned. The study consisted of 53 patients during an attack (group 1), 64 patients in attack-free period (group 2), and 57 healthy controls (group 3). ⋯ No correlation was found between the Colchicine treatment period and MPV (r = -0.005). The MPV values in the complete group of FMF diagnosed children have been found to be much higher compared to those in healthy children. As a consequence, we consider the MPV value as a useful marker that demonstrates the risk of early stage atherosclerosis in children with FMF.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effectiveness of microwave diathermy on pain, functional capacity, muscle strength, quality of life, and depression in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome: a randomized placebo-controlled clinical study.
The aim of this clinical trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic MD on pain, functional capacity, muscle strength, quality of life, and depression in patients with subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS). A total of 40 inpatient subjects with definite SIS were included in this study. These patients were sequentially randomized into 2 groups. ⋯ The patients with SIS in each group had significant improvements in pain, shoulder ROM, disability, shoulder muscles and grip strength, quality of life, and depression AT and F when compared with their initial status (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups according to all the parameters regarding the change scores between AT-BT test and F-BT test (P > 0.05). A 2,450-MHz MD regimen showed no beneficial effects in patients with SIS, so the superficial heat and exercise program, as it is efficient, may be preferable for the treatment of SIS, alone.