Rheumatoid nodulosis: report of two new cases and discussion of diagnostic criteria.

Two patients with typical rheumatoid nodulosis are described and compared with 24 reported cases. Rheumatoid nodulosis is a particular variant of rheumatoid arthritis associated with palindromic rheumatism, subcutaneous rheumatoid nodules, mild or no systemic manifestation and a benign clinical course. Positive rheumatoid factor and radiologic subchondral bone cysts are usual, but their absence should not eliminate the diagnosis of rheumatoid nodulosis, particularly at the onset of the disease.

[Value of synovectomy under arthroscopy in the treatment of persistent synovitis in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases].

Twelve patients suffering from an inflammatory rheumatic disorder with chronic synovitis of the knee joint were treated by synovectomy using a pneumatic chondrotome under arthroscopic control in combination with abundant articular lavage. All patients had been treated with one or several chemical or radioisotopic synovial instillations followed by failure of treatment or a rapid recurrence of synovitis. Eight patients had a rapid and good or very good therapeutic result with regression of synovitis and of pain during the first month after the synovectomy.

[Characterization of chronic lymphocytic proliferation in a female patient having rheumatoid polyarthritis with neutropenia].

The authors have studied the case of a female patient with rheumatoid polyarthritis, who developed a lymphocytic proliferation in the blood, the marrow, and the liver, associated with a neutropenia. Several similar cases have been recently reported in the literature. The cellular proliferation is made of large granulous lymphocytes and the study of membrane markers enables to find the following homogeneous phenotype: E rosette+, CD8+, HNK-1+, FcR+, CD4-luminal diameter "divided by degrees - -, IgS-, HLA class II-.

[Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Comparative study of the effect of immunoglobulins G eluted from the placenta and of venoglobulins].

A double-blind multicenter study comparing the effect of placenta eluted IgG and venoglobulins in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis was conducted in 113 hospitalized patients. Rheumatoid arthritis was severe, classical (92 cases) or definite (21 cases), seropositive in 87 cases, with nodules in 32 cases; the mean duration of the disease was 10 years. The majority of patients had previously received numerous slow-acting drugs without result or with side-effects.

Regulation of interleukin-2 production in rheumatoid arthritis.

The regulation of interleukin-2 (IL-2) production was investigated using mononuclear cells from synovial fluid (SF) and peripheral blood of 12 patients with classical and active rheumatoid arthritis. Decreased phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated IL-2 production by lymphocytes was observed in rheumatoid peripheral blood (5.3 +/- 10.

[Treatment of rheumatoid polyarthritis with IgG eluted from the placenta. Results of an open study on 31 patients].

Thirty-one patients presenting classical or defined, severe and active rheumatoid polyarthritis (RP) unresolved by most of the usual basic treatments (due to inefficacy or safety problems) were treated with human placental IgG preparations (HPIgG) in an open study. Various therapeutic protocols were tested to determine the most efficacious dosage. Favorable results were noted in 62% of cases.

Characterization of an expanded subpopulation of large granular lymphocytes in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.

We describe a rheumatoid arthritis patient who was found to have chronic T cell lymphocytosis and neutropenia. She had an increased number of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and liver, and the expanded lymphocyte subset consisted of large granular lymphocytes with a homogeneous phenotype. Of the previously described patients with these large granular lymphocytes, almost one-fourth have had rheumatoid arthritis.

[Regulation of natural killer activity by adherent cells in synovial rheumatoid medium].

The activity of natural killer cells in the synovial fluid, the synovial tissue and the peripheral blood was studied in 23 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis and was found to be significantly lower than that in the blood of 28 controls. This decrease was inversely related to the erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The preincubation of mononuclear cells with indomethacin significantly increased the natural killer activity in the blood of the controls and the patients with rheumatoid arthritis, but did not have any effect in the synovial compartment.

Human placenta-eluted gammaglobulins in immunomodulating treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Thirty-one patients with severe rheumatoid arthritis were treated with intravenous perfusion of human placenta-eluted gammaglobulins. These gammaglobulins, which are IgG eluted from placental tissue, have strong immunomodulating properties in vitro. Several clinical trials were tested to find the optimal useful dosage.

Interleukin-2 in rheumatoid arthritis: production of and response to interleukin-2 in rheumatoid synovial fluid, synovial tissue and peripheral blood.

Several aspects of interleukin-2 (IL-2) generation and function were studied employing mononuclear cells from synovial fluid (SF), synovial tissue (ST) and peripheral blood (PB) of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Decreased PHA stimulated IL-2 production by lymphocytes from rheumatoid ST, SF (P less than 0.02), and PB (P less than 0.

Modulation of natural killer cell activity in the rheumatoid joint and peripheral blood.

Natural killer (NK) cell activity and its regulation in synovial fluid (SF), synovial tissue (ST), and peripheral blood (PB) was studied in 23 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). NK activity was reduced in PB (P less than 0.005), SF (P less than 0.

Regulation of natural killer cell activity by macrophages in the rheumatoid joint and peripheral blood.

Recently, in another study, we observed that indomethacin, a prostaglandin synthetase inhibitor, significantly increased NK activity in both normal and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) peripheral blood (PB) but not in RA synovial fluid (SF). Because macrophages are a major source of prostaglandins, we examined the effect of macrophage-enriched adherent cells (AC) on NK activity as measured by a 3-hr Cr-release assay with K 562 cells. The removal of AC resulted in increased (p less than 0.

[Arthroscopic study after failure of synoviorthesis (author's transl)].

Arthroscopy of the knee, including synovial biopsy under direct vision, was performed in 22 patients (21 cases of arthritis, 1 of osteoarthrosis), treated 15 days to 12 months previously by osmic or isotopic synoviorthesis. The aspects seen after the 16 failures were compared with those seen after good results (4 cases) and after recurrences (2 cases). In arthritis, failure was due either to persistent synovitis, to synovial necrosis or to a combination of the two.