J Rheumatol
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We studied a large clinical practice and multicenter database to estimate the minimally important difference (MID) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) using global rating of change anchors for the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and visual analog scale (VAS) in pain, fatigue, sleep, global status, and the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) in clinical practice. ⋯ This study provides MID estimates in SSc from 2 large databases for commonly used patient-reported outcomes in a clinical practice setting, which could differ from MID in trials.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Inflammatory characteristics on ultrasound predict poorer longterm response to intraarticular corticosteroid injections in knee osteoarthritis.
To assess whether inflammation on ultrasound is predictive of clinical response to intraarticular (IA) corticosteroid injections in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). ⋯ Intraarticular corticosteroid injections are an effective short-term treatment for symptomatic knee OA compared to placebo. Patients with noninflammatory characteristics on ultrasound had a more prolonged benefit from IA corticosteroids compared to inflammatory patients.
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Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) vasculitis is an autoimmune disorder with significant morbidity and mortality. Renal involvement was associated with an increased mortality, and was the most common cause of death; these data were obtained before effective antiviral treatment was available. We studied causes of death and predictive factors in patients with HCV-associated MC vasculitis treated with antivirals. ⋯ While renal involvement is still associated with poorer prognosis, infectious processes are now the most common cause of death in HCV cryoglobulinemia vasculitis. Immunosuppressive treatment is associated with an increased risk of death, independently from disease severity. Response to antiviral treatment is associated with significantly reduced mortality risk.