J Rheumatol
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Cost-effective Tapering Algorithm in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Combination of Multibiomarker Disease Activity Score and Autoantibody Status.
To analyze the effect of a risk-stratified disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD)-tapering algorithm based on multibiomarker disease activity (MBDA) score and anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) on direct treatment costs for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in sustained remission. ⋯ Combining MBDA score and ACPA status at baseline may allow risk stratification for successful DMARD tapering and cost-effective use of biologic DMARD in patients in deep remission as defined by the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score using erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
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Systemic inflammationˆ is assessed through measurement of acute-phase reactants such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). With few exceptions, most randomized controlled trials (RCT) have assessed acute-phase reactants (CRP and ESR) as part of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20 response criteria. As part of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA)-Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) working group, we performed a systematic review of the literature to assess the performance of inflammatory biomarkers in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). ⋯ Data regarding assessment of systemic inflammation using acute-phase reactants (CRP and ESR) are limited. There is only weak evidence to support normalization of these biomarkers in predicting good clinical outcomes/remission criteria. The predictive value for cardiovascular outcomes was generally good. Further studies to assess systemic inflammation in PsA using acute-phase reactants and other laboratory biomarkers are needed.
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To evaluate the role of cytomegaloviral or Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (CMV/PJP) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with pulmonary hemorrhage (PH). ⋯ Owing to the high prevalence of CMV/PJP and its association with mortality, routine BALF analysis is recommended for all suitable SLE patients with PH. Use of aggressive immunosuppression does not benefit SLE patients with opportunistic infections during PH attack.
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Polysymptomatic distress (PSD) is the underlying metric of fibromyalgia (FM), and levels of PSD can identify criteria-positive FM with > 90% accuracy. We used levels of the PSD scale to test whether symptom levels in primary FM (PFM) and secondary FM (SFM) were the same and whether symptoms were equivalent in persons not meeting FM criteria. ⋯ PFM and SFM are equivalent regarding symptom burden. PSD scores are more informative about severity and severity within diagnosis than dichotomization into FM/non-FM. Studies of FM versus "healthy individuals," or FM versus other diseases, are inherently defective, while studies of FM and PSD in RA offer the opportunity to have meaningful comparison groups, because there are no readily available unbiased appropriate controls for PFM.