Interstitial lung disease with and without progressive fibrosing phenotype in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: data from a large multicentric cohort.

Objectives: Patients with connective tissue diseases can develop interstitial lung disease (ILD), leading to a progressive fibrosing ILD (PF-ILD) phenotype in some cases. We aimed to investigate the occurrence of PF-ILD in idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs), and factors potentially predicting this phenotype. Secondary aims were to assess the radiological pattern and factors associated with IIMs-ILD.

Thoracic Involvement in Systemic Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: Pathogenesis and Management.

Thoracic involvement is one of the main determinants of morbidity and mortality in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs), with different prevalence and manifestations according to the underlying disease. Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common pulmonary complication, particularly in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Other thoracic manifestations include pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), mostly in patients with SSc, airway disease, mainly in RA, and pleural involvement, which is common in systemic lupus erythematosus and RA, but rare in other ARDs.

Higher Ventricular-Arterial Coupling Derived from Three-Dimensional Echocardiography Is Associated with a Worse Clinical Outcome in Systemic Sclerosis.

Primary myocardial involvement is common in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Ventricular-arterial coupling (VAC) reflecting the interplay between ventricular performance and arterial load, is a key determinant of cardiovascular (CV) performance. We aimed to investigate VAC, VAC-derived indices, and the potential association between altered VAC and survival free from death/hospitalization for major adverse CV events (MACE) in scleroderma.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension in connective tissue disorders: Pathophysiology and treatment.

Our article focuses on the pathogenesis and treatment of CTD-PAH. In the latest ESC/ESR guidelines for PAH, the authors underline that although CTD-PAH should follow the same treatment protocol as idiopathic PAH, the therapeutic approach is more complex and difficult in the former. This review throws light on several peculiar aspects of CTD-PAH and the latest findings in the pathogenesis, namely, the role of inflammation in the maladaptive right ventricle remodeling in SSc-PAH where immunosuppressants are classically believed to be ineffective.

A kinematic and metabolic analysis of the first Lu of Tai Chi in experts and beginners.

The aim of this study was to compare movement kinematics, cocontraction times, and metabolic data in expert and nonexpert Tai Chi practitioners. Significant differences were observed for all kinematic parameters: experts moved smoothly (lower jerk) and with a lower frequency. No differences in metabolic and electromyography data were observed but for the breathing pattern (experts breathed slowly and deeply).

Is Beauty in the Eyes of the Beholder? Aesthetic Quality versus Technical Skill in Movement Evaluation of Tai Chi.

The aim of this study was to compare experts to naïve practitioners in rating the beauty and the technical quality of a Tai Chi sequence observed in video-clips (of high and middle level performances). Our hypothesis are: i) movement evaluation will correlate with the level of skill expressed in the kinematics of the observed action but ii) only experts will be able to unravel the technical component from the aesthetic component of the observed action. The judgments delivered indicate that both expert and non-expert observers are able to discern a good from a mediocre performance; however, as expected, only experts discriminate the technical from the aesthetic component of the action evaluated and do this independently of the level of skill shown by the model (high or middle level performances).