Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2003
Predicting the onset of forearm pain: a prospective study across 12 occupational groups.
To determine, among workers free of forearm pain, the role of mechanical and psychosocial factors in predicting future onset. ⋯ Along with repetitive movements of the arms and wrists, mechanical postural factors and psychosocial factors also are important risk factors for onset of forearm pain. Our study emphasizes the multifactorial nature of risks for onset of forearm pain, and provides leads as to possible mechanisms for prevention.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2003
Physical function and health-related quality of life of Spanish patients with ankylosing spondylitis.
To determine the physical function and the quality of life (QOL) of Spanish patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and to study the reliability of the Spanish version of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI). ⋯ Physical function and QOL are deteriorated in AS. The physical domain is more impaired than the mental one. The SF-36 and the health profile of the EuroQol may be used as generic instruments to measure health-related QOL. Spanish BASFI index is a reliable instrument.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialLimited versus severe Wegener's granulomatosis: baseline data on patients in the Wegener's granulomatosis etanercept trial.
To report baseline data on 180 patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) enrolled in the WG Etanercept Trial (WGET), and to examine demographic and clinical differences between patients with limited disease and those with severe disease. ⋯ There are significant differences between patients with limited WG and those with severe WG with regard to sex, age, the likelihood of recurrent disease, the risk of damage in certain organ systems, and, possibly, etiologic factors. These differences (and perhaps other differences that are currently unrecognized) in patient subsets may have implications for mechanisms of pathogenesis, prognosis, response to treatment, and the design of future clinical investigations.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2003
Familial Mediterranean fever among patients from Karabakh and the diagnostic value of MEFV gene analysis in all classically affected populations.
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal-recessive disorder that is common in Armenian, Turkish, Arab, and Sephardic Jewish populations. Its clinical diagnosis is one of exclusion, with the patients displaying nonspecific symptoms related to serosal inflammation. MEFV gene analysis has provided the first objective diagnostic criterion for FMF. However, in the absence of an identified mutation (NI/NI genotype), both the sensitivity of the molecular analyses and the involvement of the MEFV gene in FMF are called into question. The present study was designed to further evaluate the diagnostic value of MEFV analysis in another population of Mediterranean extraction. ⋯ These data illuminate the meaning of negative results of MEFV analyses and show that in all populations evaluated, most patients with the NI/NI genotype had disease that mimicked FMF and was unrelated to the MEFV gene. Our findings also demonstrate the high sensitivity of a search for very few mutations in order to perform a molecular diagnosis of MEFV-related FMF.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2003
Impact of type of meniscal tear on radiographic and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis: a sixteen-year followup of meniscectomy with matched controls.
To investigate long-term radiographic and patient-relevant outcome of isolated limited meniscectomy with regard to type of meniscal tear and extent of surgical resection. ⋯ An isolated meniscal tear treated by limited meniscectomy is associated with a high risk of radiographic and symptomatic tibiofemoral OA at 16-year followup. Factors associated with worse outcome were degenerative meniscal lesions and extensive resections. We suggest that degenerative meniscal tears may be associated with incipient OA, and that the meniscal tear signals the first symptom of the disease.