Tongue necrosis secondary to giant cell arteritis.

Tongue necrosis is a rare clinical finding because of its rich vascularisation. Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most frequent cause of it, and when present, it is usually one side affected. We describe a patient with several months of constitutional syndrome; during that period, she develops headache followed by tongue necrosis, which lead to clinical suspicion of GCA, later confirmed by a temporal artery biopsy.

Determination of serum free light chains as a marker of systemic lupus flare.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to explore the usefulness of the determination of free light chains (FLC) in serum as a biomarker of flare in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and to analyze the differences in their discriminatory capacity with complement C3 and C4.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. The definition of flare was based on the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) Flare Index.

Influence of Antisynthetase Antibodies Specificities on Antisynthetase Syndrome Clinical Spectrum Time Course.

Antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD) is a rare clinical condition that is characterized by the occurrence of a classic clinical triad, encompassing myositis, arthritis, and interstitial lung disease (ILD), along with specific autoantibodies that are addressed to different aminoacyl tRNA synthetases (ARS). Until now, it has been unknown whether the presence of a different ARS might affect the clinical presentation, evolution, and outcome of ASSD. In this study, we retrospectively recorded the time of onset, characteristics, clustering of triad findings, and survival of 828 ASSD patients (593 anti-Jo1, 95 anti-PL7, 84 anti-PL12, 38 anti-EJ, and 18 anti-OJ), referring to AENEAS (American and European NEtwork of Antisynthetase Syndrome) collaborative group's cohort.

Association of apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A1 ratio and cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis: results of the CARMA study.

Objectives: To assess the plasma apolipoprotein B/apolipoprotein A1 ratio and its potential association with cardiovascular events (CVE) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: A baseline analysis was made of the CARdiovascular in rheuMAtology Project (CARMA), a 10-year prospective study evaluating the presence of at least one CVE in 775 Spanish patients with RA. Of them, 29 had already experienced CVE prior to the inclusion in the study.

The EJES-3D tool for personalized prescription of exercise in axial spondyloarthritis through multimedia animations: pilot study.

To develop and evaluate a web application based on multimedia animations, combined with a training program, to improve the prescription of exercises in spondyloarthritis (SpA). After a review of exercises included in the main clinical trials and recommendations of international societies, a multidisciplinary team-rehabilitators, rheumatologists, physiotherapists, computer scientists and graphic designers-developed a web application for the prescription of exercises (EJES-3D). Once completed, this was presented to 12 pairs of rehabilitators-rheumatologists from the same hospital in a workshop.

Timing of onset affects arthritis presentation pattern in antisyntethase syndrome.

Objectives: To evaluate if the timing of appearance with respect to disease onset may influence the arthritis presentation pattern in antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD).

Methods: The patients were selected from a retrospective large international cohort of ASSD patients regularly followed-up in centres referring to AENEAS collaborative group. Patients were eligible if they had an antisynthetase antibody testing positive in at least two determinations along with arthritis occurring either at ASSD onset (Group 1) or during the course of the disease (Group 2).