A Canadian Retrospective Chart Review Evaluating Concomitant Methotrexate De-escalation Patterns in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Biologic or Targeted Synthetic DMARDs.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) guidelines recommend methotrexate (MTX)-anchored therapy with biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs); however, tolerability issues often lead to non-adherence. Canadian data on MTX tapering and/or withdrawal following b/tsDMARD initiation are minimal. This chart review assessed frequency of MTX tapering or withdrawal following b/tsDMARD initiation and the impact on disease status in Canadian adults with RA.

Peripheral neuropathy in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: In patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), to determine 1) the prevalence and clinical features of peripheral neuropathies (PN) and whether they were SLE related, 2) whether there are associations between other SLE features and PN.

Methods: Patients who met the American College of Rheumatology case definition criteria for SLE peripheral neuropsychiatric syndromes were selected from the University of Toronto Lupus Clinic database. Demographic data and SLE-related clinical and laboratory data were extracted.

[Color Doppler echography in oculo-orbital diseases].

The orbital color Doppler echography introduces in imaging arsenal, an information about perfusion of parenchymatous organs and vessels, associated to B-scan sonography. The visualisation of orbital vasculature, has opened a new dimension in ophthalmological US exploration, with applications in normal ocular vasculature evaluation, and also, in regional pathological field: tumor, ocular vascular malformations, carotid-cavernous fistulas, central retinal artery and vein occlusion, ischaemic pathology of the optic nerve, micro/macro diabetic angiopathy, the evaluation of diagnosis and therapy in open-angle glaucoma. Adding the power-angio exploration system, combined with dye injection, may increase the vascular informations in the field of oculo-orbital tumoral pathology.

[The antioxidant systems in rheumatoid polyarthritis].

The inflammatory process from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is marked by complexity, maintenance and destruction. The inflammatory lesions are induced by oxygen free radicals, that have a great capacity of destruction. We studied 52 patients with RA (defined by ARA criteria--1987).