Annals of the rheumatic diseases
-
Patients with normal (mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ≤20 mm Hg) and borderline mean pulmonary pressures (21-24 mm Hg) are "at risk" of developing pulmonary hypertension (PH). The objectives of this analysis were to examine the baseline characteristics in systemic sclerosis (SSc) with normal and borderline mPAP and to explore long-term outcomes in SSc patients with borderline mPAP versus normal haemodynamics. ⋯ Patients with borderline mPAP have a greater prevalence of abnormal lung physiology, pulmonary fibrosis and the presence of exercise mPAP ≥30 mm Hg.
-
Multicenter Study
Update on the profile of the EUSTAR cohort: an analysis of the EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research group database.
Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare disease requiring multicentre collaboration to reveal comprehensive details of disease-related causes for morbidity and mortality. ⋯ The EUSTAR database provides an abundance of information on the true clinical face of SSc that will be helpful in improving the classification of SSc and its subsets and for developing more specific therapeutic recommendations.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Zoledronic acid reduces knee pain and bone marrow lesions over 1 year: a randomised controlled trial.
To compare the effect of a single infusion of zoledronic acid (ZA) with placebo on knee pain and bone marrow lesions (BMLs). ⋯ ACTRN 12609000399291.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Belimumab in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus: high disease activity predictors of response.
To identify factors that predict response to belimumab treatment in the phase 3 BLISS trials of autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and further analyse clinical efficacy in various patient subsets. ⋯ These findings suggest that belimumab has greater therapeutic benefit than standard therapy alone in patients with higher disease activity, anti-dsDNA positivity, low complement or corticosteroid treatment at baseline. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV: identifiers NCT00424476 and NCT00410384.
-
Fra-2 transgenic mice as a novel model of pulmonary hypertension associated with systemic sclerosis.
Systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension differs from idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension with respect to histopathology, treatment responses and survival. Medical progress on PAH is hampered by the lack of human biosamples and suitable animal models. In this study, the authors evaluated fos-related antigen 2 (Fra-2) transgenic mice as a novel model for systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension. ⋯ This study suggests that Fra-2 transgenic mice as an animal model of systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension display main characteristic features of the human disease. It therefore allows studying pathophysiological aspects and might serve as a preclinical model for interventional proof-of-concept studies.