J Rheumatol
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To evaluate the effects and safety of 6-month intravenous cyclophosphamide (CYC) followed by 18-month oral azathioprine (AZA) therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and worsening interstitial lung disease (ILD). ⋯ Intravenous CYC followed by oral maintenance immunosuppressive therapy for worsening ILD was well tolerated and was associated with stable or improved PFT in 70% and 51.8% of SSc patients at 6 months and 2 years, respectively.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Patient pain and tissue trauma during syringe procedures: a randomized controlled trial.
To investigate the relationship of needle control to tissue trauma and hemorrhage during syringe procedures. ⋯ Inadequate control of needle and syringe during physician-performed syringe procedures is an important cause of trauma to patient tissues resulting in hemorrhage, increased patient pain, and decreased aspirate yield. The RPD -- a safety device that improves needle control and decreases needle trauma to tissues -- reduces hemorrhage and improves the safety, outcome, and aspirate yield of physician-performed syringe procedures.
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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome expressed by chronic widespread pain often associated with reduced physical function. Exercise is a common recommendation in management of FM. We evaluated the effects of exercise training on global well-being, selected signs and symptoms, and physical function in individuals with FM. ⋯ Aerobic-only training has beneficial effects on physical function and some FM symptoms. Strength-only training may improve FM symptoms, but requires further study. Large, high-quality studies of exercise-only interventions that provide detailed information on exercise prescription and adherence are needed.
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Comparative Study
Patients with scleroderma may have increased risk of osteoporosis. A comparison to rheumatoid arthritis and noninflammatory musculoskeletal conditions.
To investigate if subjects with scleroderma (systemic sclerosis, SSc) have increased risk for developing osteoporosis (OP). ⋯ The prevalence of OP in patients with SSc was comparable to those with RA, but higher than in the MSK group. Age was found to be an important factor, as expected. Also, our results indicated that BMD (T score) in SSc was similar to or even lower than in patients with RA. Increasing the awareness to order BMD measurements in patients with SSc may be warranted based on our results, especially for older patients.