J Rheumatol
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This survey was designed to examine features of a group of patients with acute painful joint effusions following hylan G-F 20 (Synvisc) knee injections. ⋯ The majority of the occasional dramatic episodes of inflammation after hylan G-F 20 injection do not seem to be related to crystals. No detrimental lasting results were noted. The absence of post-hylan flares following the first intraarticular injection in this small series suggests that sensitization to or accumulation of hylan G-F 20 or its breakdown products may play an etiologic role in these flares.
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To describe therapies with disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) and biological agents in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were receiving routine clinical care in 2001 in a private practice of 5 rheumatologists in Nashville, TN, USA. ⋯ After a median duration of 12.1 months of DMARD therapy, almost 90% of patients with recent onset RA took MTX as the anchor drug. More than 60% took MTX as a single DMARD or in combination with traditional DMARD, while 30% took leflunomide, etanercept, or infliximab, usually in combination with MTX.
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To determine whether circulating concentrations of the counteradhesive proteins SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine) and thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) are elevated in scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc). The relationship of these counteradhesive proteins to measures of platelet and endothelial cell activation was examined. ⋯ That circulating SPARC and TSP-1 are elevated in patients with SSc raises the possibility that counteradhesive proteins, which regulate vascular organization and remodeling, might contribute to the pathogenesis of SSc vasculopathy.