Rheumatology international
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Letter Case Reports
Erdheim-Chester disease: a pitfall in DXA measurements.
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The objective is to develop a Turkish version of the foot and ankle outcome score (FAOS) and to investigate its validity and reliability. The Turkish version of FAOS was developed after the translation and back-translation. The translated version was pretested on 20 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. ⋯ The Turkish FAOS correlated with the SF-36 and AIMS2 scales. The Turkish version of FAOS was valid and reliable instrument to assess the foot and ankle related problems. However, to assess its responsiveness further studies are needed.
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The objectives of this study are autoinflammatory syndromes which are usually characterized by repeated attacks of fever, especially in children. The presentation of these diseases, however, varies between entities and between patients of a particular syndrome. We report a 16-year-old female patient, who suffered from periodic erythema and myositis/fasciitis. ⋯ Long-term anti-inflammatory treatment with etanercept resulted in a significant clinical improvement and reduction of the inflammatory parameters ESR, CRP, interleukin-6, TNF-α, and soluble TNF-α receptor 1, but not of interleukin-12. Monitoring of the cytokine profile suggested partial effectiveness of etanercept in the treatment of TRAPS. Hereditary fever syndromes have to be considered in case of chronic unexplained inflammation even if fever is no presenting symptom.
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Review Case Reports
Primary central nervous system vasculitis mimicking brain tumour: case report and literature review.
Primary central nervous system vasculitis (PCNSV) is a rare inflammatory disease causing significant morbidity and mortality. We present a detailed history and clinical course of a patient with PCNSV along with a literature review. A 50-year-old Chinese female presented with a 6-month history of mild to moderate headache and sudden onset of visual loss. ⋯ Steroid and immunosuppressive therapy dramatically improved the patient's condition. Our report highlights the importance of considering PCNSV as a differential diagnosis in patients who are suspected with encephalitis, multiple sclerosis, cerebral haemorrhage, cerebral thrombus, leukoencephalopathy, or brain tumour, etc. while their clinical presentations are exceptionally so changeable. This case also gives emphasis to the value of a brain biopsy in consolidating the diagnosis, and the efficacy of steroid and immunosuppressive therapy in PCNSV.
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Comparative Study
Evaluation of an interferon gamma assay in the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
The tuberculin skin test is not an ideal screening test for the patients with rheumatoid arthritis to identify cases of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) prior to the start of treatment with anti-TNFs, as it responds inadequately to late hypersensitivity, which is fundamental for producing a response to the inoculated antigen. Assays based on detection of the production of IFNγ in vitro by mononuclear peripheral cells stimulated by specific antigens are more specific than PPD in detecting LTBI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of T-SPOT. ⋯ TB varied from 87 to 90% and the negative-predictive value (NPV) from 94.4 to 100%. It can be concluded that the T-SPOT. TB showed high specificity and NPV, proving the capability of identifying false-negative cases of PPD, raising the level of safety for the use of anti-TNFs.