Arthritis and rheumatism
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyGolimumab, a human anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha monoclonal antibody, injected subcutaneously every four weeks in methotrexate-naive patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: twenty-four-week results of a phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of golimumab before methotrexate as first-line therapy for early-onset rheumatoid arthritis.
To assess the safety and efficacy of golimumab in methotrexate (MTX)-naive patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ Although the primary end point was not met, the modified ITT analysis of the primary end point and other prespecified efficacy measures demonstrated that the efficacy of golimumab plus MTX is better than, and the efficacy of golimumab alone is similar to, the efficacy of MTX alone in reducing RA signs and symptoms in MTX-naive patients, with no unexpected safety concerns.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Aug 2009
Value of anti-modified citrullinated vimentin and third-generation anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide compared with second-generation anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide and rheumatoid factor in predicting disease outcome in undifferentiated arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Autoantibodies such as rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-citrullinated protein autoantibodies (ACPAs) determined by testing with second-generation anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP-2) are frequently measured in clinical practice because of their association with disease outcome in undifferentiated arthritis (UA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, 2 new ACPA tests were developed: third-generation anti-CCP (anti-CCP-3) and anti-modified citrullinated vimentin (anti-MCV) autoantibody tests. To facilitate the decision on which autoantibody to test in daily practice, this study evaluated the capability of these autoantibodies and combinations of them to predict 3 outcome measures: progression from UA to RA, the rate of joint destruction in RA, and the chance of achieving sustained disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-free remission in RA. ⋯ For clinical practice, a single autoantibody test is sufficient for risk estimation in UA and RA.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2009
Multicenter StudySociodemographic, disease, and symptom correlates of fatigue in systemic sclerosis: evidence from a sample of 659 Canadian Scleroderma Research Group Registry patients.
To assess fatigue levels and demographic, socioeconomic, disease, and psychosocial correlates of fatigue in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). ⋯ High levels of fatigue are common in patients with SSc and are independently associated with clinical variables, including number of comorbidities, breathing problems, GI symptoms, and smoking.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2009
Effect of baseline quadriceps activation on changes in quadriceps strength after exercise therapy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis.
To examine whether pretreatment magnitude of quadriceps activation (QA) helps predict changes in quadriceps strength after exercise therapy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We hypothesized that subjects with lower magnitudes of QA (greater failure of muscle activation) would have smaller gains in strength compared with those with higher magnitudes of QA following exercise therapy. ⋯ Baseline QA did not predict changes in quadriceps strength following exercise therapy. Measurement of QA using the central activation ratio method does not appear to be helpful in identifying subjects with knee OA who will have difficulty improving quadriceps strength with exercise therapy.
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Arthritis and rheumatism · Jul 2009
Comparative StudyValidation of whole-body against conventional magnetic resonance imaging for scoring acute inflammatory lesions in the sacroiliac joints of patients with spondylarthritis.
To compare the performance of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) versus conventional MRI in assessing acute inflammatory lesions of the sacroiliac (SI) joints in patients with established and active spondylarthritis (SpA) using the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) MRI index. This study is validating whole-body MRI against the current MRI standard for assessing active inflammatory lesions of the SI joints in patients with SpA. ⋯ Whole-body and conventional MRI scores show a strong correlation and comparable reliability for the detection of inflammatory lesions of the SI joints.