J Rheumatol
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To elucidate the incidence rate and relative risk of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in patients with RA treated with tumor-necrosis-factor (TNF) blockers in Korea. ⋯ The risk of TB infection is 8.9-fold higher in Korean patients with RA and 30.1-fold higher in RA patients treated with infliximab, compared with the general Korean population.
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To assess the distribution of widespread pain, tenderpoints (TP), and fibromyalgia (FM) in young African American (AA) and Caucasian (C) women. ⋯ Widespread pain and tenderness is highly prevalent in these young women. Racial differences seem to exist; C women had significantly increased tenderness while AA women had more widespread pain. The association of depressive symptoms and pain was stronger in AA women. Racial differences emerged relatively early in these young women.
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To identify risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with special attention for anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment. ⋯ The most important risk factor for SSI is history of SSI or skin infection. Although our study was not powered to detect small differences in infection rates, perioperative continuation of anti-TNF does not seem to be an important risk factor for SSI.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Scoring inflammatory activity of the spine by magnetic resonance imaging in ankylosing spondylitis: a multireader experiment.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine is increasingly important in the assessment of inflammatory activity in clinical trials with patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). We investigated feasibility, inter-reader reliability, sensitivity to change, and discriminatory ability of 3 different scoring methods for MRI activity and change in activity of the spine in patients with AS. ⋯ This experiment demonstrates the feasibility of multiple-reader MRI scoring exercises for method comparison, provides evidence for the feasibility, reliability, sensitivity to change, and discriminatory capacity of all 3 tested scoring systems to be used in assessing spinal activity on MRI in patients with AS in clinical trials. On the basis of these results it is not possible to prioritize one of the 3 methods.
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To examine the associations between meniscal tear, knee structure, osteoarthritis (OA) risk factors, radiographic change, and symptoms in a largely non-osteoarthritic cohort. ⋯ Meniscal tear at specific sites shares risk factors with knee OA. Importantly, meniscal tear is associated with cartilage defect, loss of cartilage volume, alteration in bone size, and prevalence of radiographic OA, suggesting that meniscal tear in non-OA subjects appears to be an early event in the disease process, and may be a risk factor for knee cartilage damage and articular structural changes.