Clinical rheumatology
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Clinical rheumatology · Jul 2019
Validation of Turkish version of the Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire.
The Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire (SHAQ) is a functional scale which consists of five scleroderma-specific items (overall disease severity, Raynaud's phenomenon, digital ulcers, respiratory and intestinal involvement) in addition to Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI). The objective of this study was to perform an adaptation and validation of a Turkish version of the SHAQ. ⋯ The Turkish version of the SHAQ met the requirements of validity and reproducibility.
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Clinical rheumatology · Jun 2019
YouTube as a source of patient information for ankylosing spondylitis exercises.
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a rheumatic disorder characterized by structural impairments and postural deformities which restrict daily life activities. Nonpharmacologic methods, particularly exercise therapies, play a key role in the treatment. Obtaining online health-related information has become increasingly popular. We aimed to assess the quality of the most viewed YouTube videos on AS exercises. ⋯ YouTube can be considered as an important source of high-quality videos. Nearly half of the videos were of high quality. Physicians should inform patients about the importance of video resources during the use of YouTube and should guide patients to the accurate sources of information.
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Clinical rheumatology · Jun 2019
Association between inflammatory back pain features, acute and structural sacroiliitis on MRI, and the diagnosis of spondyloarthritis.
To evaluate the association between inflammatory back pain (IBP) features, acute and structural MRI findings suggestive of sacroiliitis, and diagnosis of spondyloarthritis (SpA). ⋯ The presence of IBP features is highly associated with diagnosis of SpA and correlates with MRI BME, all probably reflect inflammation. The combination of IBP and MRI should be the cornerstone in the clinician's final diagnosis of SpA.
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Clinical rheumatology · Jun 2019
Serum interleukin-21 positivity could indicate the current activity of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis: a monocentric prospective study.
Interleukin-21 (IL-21) is a pleotropic cytokine that plays an important role in the regulation of both innate and adaptive immune responses. In the present study, we investigated whether serum IL-21 positivity is associated with disease activity in patients with all variants of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV). Sixty patients with AAV from a monocentric prospective cohort were enrolled from November 2016 to May 2018 in this study. ⋯ No difference in serum IL-21 positivity was observed among patients with AAV, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus and healthy controls. Among patients with serum IL-21 positivity, serum IL-21 became negative at initial visit following the decrease in BVAS. Serum IL-21 positivity might be a useful biomarker to indicate the disease activity of AAV.
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Clinical rheumatology · Jun 2019
Distinction between MPO-ANCA and PR3-ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis in Chinese patients: a retrospective single-center study.
To retrospectively investigate the clinical and histological features and outcomes of ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis (AAGN) with different ANCA serotypes. ⋯ MPO-ANCA was predominant in Chinese patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis and renal disease. The epidemiological characteristics, extra-renal involvement, and histopathological classes and outcomes were different between MPO-positive and PR3-positive patients, implying that they might be two different disease entities.