Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in subjects with congestive heart failure undergoing cardiac rehabilitation: A decision tree analysis.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis and its relationship with vascular risk factors among patients with congestive heart failure.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study.

Participants: A total of 584 consecutive patients admitted to a Rehabilitative Cardiology Unit.

Role and importance of ultrasound lung comets in acute cardiac care.

Lung ultrasonography is an emerging, user-friendly and easy-to-use technique that can be performed quickly at the patient's bedside to evaluate several pathologic conditions affecting the lung. Ultrasound lung comets (ULCs) are an echographic sign of uncertain biophysical characterisation mostly attributed to water-thickened subpleural interlobular septa, but invariably associated with increased extravascular lung water. ULCs have thus been proposed as a complementary tool for the assessment and monitoring of acute heart failure and are now entering into statements in international recommendation documents.

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis prevalence in subjects with severe atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is characterized by ossification of different entheseal sites. Several metabolic factors have been suggested to be involved in DISH development. We assessed the prevalence of DISH and its relationship to traditional vascular risk factors in a cohort of patients diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases.

Systemic sclerosis could mask the presentation of psoriasis in a patient with symptomatic and bilateral sacroiliitis.

Psoriasis is rarely associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc), and sacroiliitis associated to Connective Tissue Diseases is also rather rare. In this report we describe a case of a young woman with SSc who developed symptomatic and bilateral sacroiliitis. The clinical pattern of sacroiliac involvement of this patient resembles that of psoriatic sacroiliitis.

Intervertebral disc lesions in diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH).

Objective: In order to evaluate the relationships between DISH and vertebral osteochondrosis (degenerative disc disease), the radiographs of the spine of 69 DISH patients were compared to those of 68 controls.

Methods: Radiographs of 69 patients affected by DISH according to Resnick's criteria and of 68 control subjects affected by diseases other than DISH, were evaluated in order to determine the prevalence of vertebral osteochondrosis, diagnosed by the occurrence of moderate to severe reduction in the intervertebral disc height and of the extensive radiographic changes typical of degenerative disc disease, including vacuum phenomena and vertebral body marginal sclerosis. The rate ratios with 95% confidence intervals were computed, with stratification by age groups.