Clinical rheumatology
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Clinical rheumatology · Apr 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialCan we have an overall osteoarthritis severity score for the patellofemoral joint using magnetic resonance imaging? Reliability and validity.
This work aimed to assess inter-rater reliability and agreement of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based Kellgren and Lawrence (K&L) grading for patellofemoral joint osteoarthritis (OA) and to validate it against the MRI Osteoarthritis Knee Score (MOAKS). MRI scans from people aged 45 to 75 years with chronic knee pain participating in a randomised clinical trial evaluating dietary supplements were utilised. Fifty participants were randomly selected and scored using the MRI-based K&L grading using axial and sagittal MRI scans. ⋯ The high reliability and good agreement show consistency in grading the severity of patellofemoral OA with the MRI-based K&L score. Our validity results suggest that the scale may be useful, particularly in the clinical environment. Future research should validate this method against clinical findings.
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Clinical rheumatology · Apr 2018
Malnutrition and sarcopenia in a large cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease which may lead to malnutrition. Previous studies have defined it with different criteria. No thorough evaluations of sarcopenia in SSc are available. ⋯ In SSc, malnutrition defined with ESPEN criteria was found to be lower than previously reported. Sarcopenia was found to be somewhat common. Lung involvement was significantly associated with nutritional status and may not be explained only by muscle weakness.