Reliability of the OMERACT Giant cell arteritis Ultrasonography Score (OGUS): results of a patient-based exercise involving experts and non-experts in vascular ultrasonography.

Objective: To test the reliability of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology Giant cell arteritis (GCA) Ultrasonography Score (OGUS) and other composite scores in a patient-based exercise involving experts and non-experts in vascular ultrasonography.

Methods: Six GCA patients were scanned twice (two rounds separated ≥3 hours) by 12 experts and 12 non-experts. Non-experts received 90 min of theoretical and 240 min of practical training between rounds 1 and 2.

Serum and urinary levels of MIF, CD74, DDT and CXCR4 among patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, type 2 diabetes and healthy individuals: Implications for further research.

Background: Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a highly conserved cytokine with pleiotropic properties, mainly pro-inflammatory. MIF seems to exert its pro-inflammatory features by binding to its transmembrane cellular receptor CD74. MIF also has CXCR4, which acts as a co-receptor in this inflammatory process.

ESR Essentials: arterial vascular access and closure devices-practice recommendations by the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe.

Vascular access is the initial, very important, step of endovascular procedures. Various access sites include the common femoral artery, brachial artery, radial artery, popliteal artery, and distal tibial vessels (pedal arteries). Successful arterial access requires advanced knowledge of anatomy, as well as proper training and experience.

Vascular ultrasound as a follow-up tool in patients with giant cell arteritis: a prospective observational cohort study.

Objectives: To evaluate relapses in giant cell arteritis (GCA), investigate the utility of vascular ultrasound to detect relapses, and develop and assess a composite score for GCA disease activity (GCAS) based on clinical symptoms, ultrasound imaging activity, and C-reactive protein (CRP).

Methods: Patients with GCA were prospectively followed with scheduled visits, including assessment for clinical relapse, protocol ultrasound examination, and CRP. At each visit, patients were defined as having ultrasound remission or relapse.

Risk loci involved in giant cell arteritis susceptibility: a genome-wide association study.

Background: Giant cell arteritis is an age-related vasculitis that mainly affects the aorta and its branches in individuals aged 50 years and older. Current options for diagnosis and treatment are scarce, highlighting the need to better understand its underlying pathogenesis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have emerged as a powerful tool for unravelling the pathogenic mechanisms involved in complex diseases.

Giant cell arteritis: incidence and phenotypic distribution in Western Norway 2013-2020.

Objectives: There is an increasing awareness of the spectrum of phenotypes in giant cell arteritis (GCA). However, there is sparse evidence concerning the phenotypic distribution which may be influenced by both genetic background and the environment. We established a cohort of all GCA-patients in the Bergen Health Area (Western Norway), to describe the phenotypic distribution and whether phenotypes differ with regards to incidence and clinical features.

Vasculitis distribution and clinical characteristics in giant cell arteritis: a retrospective study using the new 2022 ACR/EULAR classification criteria.

Introduction: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common vasculitis of the elderly. In recent years, advanced imaging has to a certain extent replaced temporal artery biopsy (TAB) to aid diagnosis in many institutions and helped to identify three major phenotypes of GCA, namely, cranial GCA (c-GCA), large-vessel non-cranial GCA (LV-GCA), and a combination of these two patterns called mixed-GCA, which all show different clinical patterns. Recent 2022 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) classification criteria respect the changing conception and clinical practice during the last two decades.

A prospective study on endocrine function in patients with long-COVID symptoms.

Objective: To investigate hormonal status in patients with long-COVID and explore the interrelationship between hormone levels and long-COVID symptoms.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Participants: Patients who visited our long-COVID outpatients' clinic due to long-COVID symptoms from February 2021 to December 2022.

Diet and metabolism are back: The oldest known Islamic medical manuscript bridges the gap from ancient to modern gout management.

Gout is a chronic disease frequently associated with lifestyle; its prevalence is increasing in Western societies, as well as in the Middle East. Apart from its partial genetic features, diet accounts for 12% of the causality of the disease, while purine-rich foods contribute decisively to its development and evaluation. The influential Persian physician of the medieval ages, Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (or by his Latin name Rhazes; 860-925 AD), wrote a short book (20 chapters) entitled ''.

Persistent Endothelial Lung Damage and Impaired Diffusion Capacity in Long COVID.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, both COVID-19-associated coagulopathy biomarkers and a plethora of endothelial biomarkers have been proposed and tested as prognostic tools of severity and mortality prediction. As the pandemic is gradually being controlled, attention is now focusing on the long-term sequelae of COVID-19. In the present study, we investigated the role of endothelial activation/dysfunction in long COVID syndrome.

Single-center review on safety of biodegradable airway stenting in pediatric population.

Background: Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) and airway stenosis are recognized etiologies of airway obstruction among children. Their management is often challenging, requiring multiple interventions and prolonged respiratory support with associated long-term morbidity. Metallic or silicone stents have been used with mixed success and high complication rates.

Adrenal function in relation to cytokines and outcome in non-critically ill patients with COVID-19.

Purpose: We aimed to identify whether hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction is related to deterioration in a percentage of patients who progress to severe COVID-19.

Methods: In this cohort observational study, we evaluated HPA axis activation by measuring cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels, whole blood expression levels of the key glucocorticoid receptor, GCR-α, and the glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper (GILZ), and cytokines, as markers of the inflammatory phase, in 149 patients with respiratory infection admitted in the ward, without known adrenal disease and/or confounding medications (glucocorticoids). One hundred and four (104) patients were SARS-CoV-2 positive (C +) and controls consisted of 45 SARS-CoV-2-negative patients (NC).

Exploring the impact of the national tender system on the use of costly drugs treating rheumatoid arthritis patients in ten rheumatology centers in Norway (2010-2019).

Background: Biologic and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) are highly effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA), albeit high drug cost has restricted their use in many countries. As a countermeasure, Norway implemented pharmaceutical tendering as a cost-reducing strategy. The aim of this study was to assess the annual proportion of different b/tsDMARDs registered to treat RA patients under the influence of a Norwegian pharmaceutical tendering between 2010 and 2019.

Dialysis Access Maintenance: Plain Balloon Angioplasty.

Plain balloon angioplasty remains the first-line treatment for dialysis access stenosis. This chapter reviews the outcomes of plain balloon angioplasty from cohort studies and comparative studies. Angioplasty outcomes are more favourable in arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) compared to arteriovenous grafts (AVG) with primary patency at 6 months ranging from 42-63% compared to 27-61%, respectively, and improved for forearm fistulae compared with upper arm fistulae.

A vein bypass first versus a best endovascular treatment first revascularisation strategy for patients with chronic limb threatening ischaemia who required an infra-popliteal, with or without an additional more proximal infra-inguinal revascularisation procedure to restore limb perfusion (BASIL-2): an open-label, randomised, multicentre, phase 3 trial.

Background: Chronic limb-threatening ischaemia is the severest manifestation of peripheral arterial disease and presents with ischaemic pain at rest or tissue loss (ulceration, gangrene, or both), or both. We compared the effectiveness of a vein bypass first with a best endovascular treatment first revascularisation strategy in terms of preventing major amputation and death in patients with chronic limb threatening ischaemia who required an infra-popliteal, with or without an additional more proximal infra-inguinal, revascularisation procedure to restore limb perfusion.

Methods: Bypass versus Angioplasty for Severe Ischaemia of the Leg (BASIL)-2 was an open-label, pragmatic, multicentre, phase 3, randomised trial done at 41 vascular surgery units in the UK (n=39), Sweden (n=1), and Denmark (n=1).

Next-Generation Sequencing and Image-Guided Tissue Sampling: A Primer for Interventional Radiologists.

The discovery of increasing numbers of actionable molecular and gene targets for cancer treatment has driven the demand for tissue sampling for next-generation sequencing (NGS). Requirements for sequencing can be very specific, and inadequate sampling leads to delays in management and decision making. It is important that interventional radiologists are aware of NGS technologies and their common applications and be cognizant of the factors that contribute to successful sample sequencing.

CIRSE Standards of Practice on Oesophageal and Gastroduodenal Stenting.

Background: Image-guided insertion of stents in the upper gastrointestinal trunk is an effective, minimally invasive treatment option to provide immediate relief of symptoms caused by upper gastrointestinal tract obstruction related to advanced-stage malignant causes or benign causes that lead to lumen narrowing.

Purpose: This document, as with all CIRSE Standards of Practice documents, is not intended to impose a standard of clinical patient care but will recommend a reasonable approach to best practices for performing stenting of the upper gastrointestinal tract, namely the oesophageal and gastroduodenal segments. Our purpose is to provide up-to-date recommendations for placement of upper gastrointestinal tract stents based on the previously published guidelines on this topic in 2005 and 2007.

Target Balloon-Assisted Antegrade and Retrograde Use of Re-Entry Catheters in Complex Chronic Total Occlusions.

Unlabelled: Purpose, Retrograde recanalizations have gained increasing recognition in complex arterial occlusive disease. Re-entry devices are a well described adjunct for antegrade recanalizations. We present our experience with target balloon-assisted antegrade and retrograde recanalizations using re-entry devices in challenging chronic total occlusions.