Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · May 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialTreatment of rheumatoid arthritis with methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine, methotrexate and sulfasalazine, or a combination of the three medications: results of a two-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
To compare the efficacy of combination therapy with methotrexate (MTX) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), MTX and sulfasalazine (SSZ), and MTX, HCQ, and SSZ in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ The triple combination of MTX, SSZ, and HCQ is well-tolerated, and its efficacy is superior to that of the double combination of MTX and SSZ and is marginally superior to that of the double combination of MTX and HCQ.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · May 2002
Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence of augmented pain processing in fibromyalgia.
To use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to evaluate the pattern of cerebral activation during the application of painful pressure and determine whether this pattern is augmented in patients with fibromyalgia (FM) compared with controls. ⋯ The fact that comparable subjectively painful conditions resulted in activation patterns that were similar in patients and controls, whereas similar pressures resulted in no common regions of activation and greater effects in patients, supports the hypothesis that FM is characterized by cortical or subcortical augmentation of pain processing.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · May 2002
Comparative StudyHigh prevalence of lateral knee osteoarthritis in Beijing Chinese compared with Framingham Caucasian subjects.
We recently reported that, despite their thinness, elderly subjects in Beijing, China had an equal prevalence (in men) or higher prevalence (in women) of both radiographic and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) compared with that in the Framingham, Massachusetts cohort of elderly subjects. Our objective was to evaluate whether Chinese subjects might have more medial disease than do Caucasians, given a report of varus alignment in the knee joints of Chinese elderly. ⋯ In this first attempt to compare the characteristics of OA in different racial groups, we conclude that, opposite to expectations, Chinese subjects have much more lateral OA than do Caucasian subjects in the Framingham cohort, a predilection possibly explained in the men by differences in anatomic alignment.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Mar 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialTreatment of rheumatoid arthritis with anakinra, a recombinant human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, in combination with methotrexate: results of a twenty-four-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of anakinra in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ In patients with persistently active RA, the combination of anakinra and MTX was safe and well tolerated and provided significantly greater clinical benefit than MTX alone.