Rheumatology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Short-term efficacy of etanercept plus methotrexate vs combinations of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs with methotrexate in established rheumatoid arthritis.
The aims of this study were to investigate the short-term benefit of etanercept (ETN) + MTX vs conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs; HCQ, LEF or SSZ) + MTX in subjects with established RA. The effect of disease duration (≤2 years vs >2 years) and severity (moderate vs severe) on treatment outcomes was also assessed. Methods. Data from Asian and Latin American subjects with inadequate response to MTX were pooled from the APPEAL (ETN 25 mg biweekly + MTX or csDMARD + MTX; NCT00422227) and Latin RA (ETN 50 mg/week + MTX or csDMARD + MTX; NCT00848354) studies. Endpoints included the 28-joint DAS with ESR (DAS28-ESR) low disease activity (LDA; ≤3.2), DAS28 remission (<2.6) and HAQ score ≤0.5. ⋯ Overall, ETN + MTX was more effective in treating subjects with established RA than csDMARDs + MTX at 16 weeks. More subjects with shorter disease duration and moderate disease activity achieved optimal response regardless of treatment regimen.
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Multicenter Study
Knee osteoarthritis, body mass index and pain: data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.
This study aimed to determine whether BMI increases knee pain as measured from self-reported surveys even when controlling for OA severity as measured by osteophytes and joint space narrowing visible on X-rays. ⋯ Weight loss may reduce knee OA pain even if the osteological symptoms are not treated.
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Our objective was to study the use of pain medications for persistent knee pain and their predictors after revision total knee arthroplasty (TKA). ⋯ Younger age and depression were risk factors for the use of NSAIDs and narcotic pain medications for index TKA pain at 2- and 5-years after revision TKA.
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Data from a small study testing imatinib to treat SSc were used to determine if cytokine changes were related to differences in clinical parameters to model future early phase trials pairing cytokine changes and clinical parameters. ⋯ Some serum and tissue cytokines may have a role in early phase clinical trials of SSc, correlating with changes in clinical parameters. Serum and tissue samples could be analysed in early phase trials to determine whether they support the clinical observations.