Rheumatoid interstitial lung disease in Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand - A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD), is an important extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The frequency, risk factors, and prognosis of RA-ILD are incompletely understood.

Aims: To determine the prevalence and incidence, clinical characteristics and risk factors for development, and outcomes of persons with RA-ILD in the population of the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) catchment area.

Survival of adults with rheumatoid arthritis associated interstitial lung disease - A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) is associated with high levels of morbidity and mortality. The primary aim of this systematic review was to determine the duration of survival, from time of diagnosis of RA-ILD.

Methods: Medline (Ovid), Embase (OVID), CINAHL (EBSCO), PubMed, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies that reported duration of survival from time of diagnosis of RA-ILD.

Thromboangiitis obliterans in pregnancy - Case report and literature review.

Thromboangiitis obliterans, also known as Buerger's disease, is rarely reported in young women in pregnancy. It is an occlusive vascular disorder, characterised by episodic non-atherosclerotic thrombosis of small- and medium-sized blood vessels. Thromboangiitis obliterans predominantly occurs in males aged less than 50 years and is almost exclusively diagnosed in smokers.

Rheumatoid interstitial lung disease in Canterbury New Zealand: prevalence, risk factors and long-term outcomes-protocol for a population-based retrospective study.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects approximately 0.5%-1% of the general population. Clinically significant interstitial lung diseases (ILD) develops in just under 10% of people with RA, and subclinical disease is more common.

Treatment advances in gout.

The purpose of gout treatment is to alleviate symptoms of flares, prevent flares from recurring by lowering serum urate, and minimize structural joint damage and functional impairment. In recent years, several new medications to treat gout have been developed, and novel agents continue to be investigated, in addition to several long-established treatments. Although a number of effective therapies are available, optimal management and outcomes are frequently not achieved due to physician under prescribing of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) and poor adherence with therapy when it is prescribed.

Management of gout in chronic kidney disease: a G-CAN Consensus Statement on the research priorities.

Gout and chronic kidney disease (CKD) frequently coexist, but quality evidence to guide gout management in people with CKD is lacking. Use of urate-lowering therapy (ULT) in the context of advanced CKD varies greatly, and professional bodies have issued conflicting recommendations regarding the treatment of gout in people with concomitant CKD. As a result, confusion exists among medical professionals about the appropriate management of people with gout and CKD.

Care of patients with early inflammatory arthritis in the Wellington region according to the British Society of Rheumatology's best practice tariff standards.

Aim: To compare the care of patients with suspected early inflammatory arthritis (EIA) in the Wellington region with the quality standards from the British Society of Rheumatology (BSR) 2013/14 best practice tariffs.

Methods: The case notes for patients first seen in clinic from the beginning of 2015 were reviewed until at least 100 cases of suspected inflammatory arthritis were identified. Data gathered included the length of time from referral to first specialist rheumatology clinic, the length of time from referral to the commencement of disease modifying therapy for cases of inflammatory arthritis and the number of specialist-led clinics within the first 12 months of the first appointment.

Efficacy and safety of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with chronic kidney disease: a Gout, Hyperuricemia and Crystal-Associated Disease Network (G-CAN)-initiated literature review.

Gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with underlying chronic kidney disease (CKD) is challenging, given limited treatment options and risk of worsening renal function with inappropriate treatment dosing. This literature review aimed to describe the current literature on the efficacy and safety of gout flare prophylaxis and therapy use in people with CKD stages 3-5. A literature search via PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE was performed from 1 January 1959 to 31 January 2018.

Efficacy and safety of urate-lowering therapy in people with kidney impairment: a GCAN-initiated literature review.

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the efficacy, defined as achieving target serum urate <6.0 mg/dl, and safety of urate-lowering therapies (ULTs) for people with gout and chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages 3-5.

Methods: PubMed, The Cochrane Library and EMBASE were searched from 1 January 1959 to 31 January 2018 for studies that enrolled people with gout, who had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or creatinine clearance (CrCl) of <60 ml/min and exposure to allopurinol, febuxostat, probenecid, benzbromarone, lesinurad or pegloticase.

A SERIES OF TWO PATIENTS WITH CARDIAC PARAGANGLIOMAS.

Objective: The objective of this report is to present 2 cases of cardiac paragangliomas (PGLs), and to outline the presentation, management, and associated genetic mutations.

Methods: Case 1, a 38-year-old female, presented with a 12-month history of paroxysmal palpitations, headaches, and weight loss. Her investigations included plasma free metanephrines and urinary metanephrines, 68-gallium DOTATATE positron emission tomography/computed tomography, and cardiac imaging.

The nutritional quality of supermarket own brand chilled convenience foods: an Australian cross-sectional study reveals limitations of the Health Star Rating.

Objective: To assess the nutritional quality of Australian supermarket own brand chilled convenience foods (SOBCCF), for example, ready meals, pizza, pies and desserts.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Two large supermarkets (Coles and Woolworths) in Perth, Western Australia were audited in February 2017.

Pulmonary Complications of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common chronic autoimmune disorder that characteristically causes joint inflammation and damage. In addition, many patients develop extraarticular manifestations which may cause significant comorbidity and premature mortality.Some respiratory tract involvement of the upper and lower airways and parenchymal disease features are unique to RA, including cricoarytenoid arthritis and RA pulmonary nodulosis, and others, especially the interstitial parenchymal involvement, occur in many other idiopathic and autoimmune diseases.

Incidence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis before and after the February 2011 Christchurch Earthquake.

Background: It has been suggested that environmental pollution from an earthquake might be associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV).

Aim: To determine the incidence of AAV during the 3-year period before (period 1), and the 3 years following (period 2), the earthquake that occurred on 22 February 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Methods: All ANCA tests performed in the Canterbury region for 3 years before the earthquake (period 1, 2007-2010), and for 3 years after the earthquake (period 2, 2011-2014) were examined.

The role of paracetamol in the pathogenesis of asthma.

Paracetamol use represents a putative risk factor for the development of asthma. There is convincing epidemiological evidence that the risk of asthma may be increased with exposure to paracetamol in the intrauterine environment, infancy, later childhood and adult life. A dose-dependent association has also been observed in these different age groups in different populations world-wide.

Systematic review of studies of the effect of hyperoxia on coronary blood flow.

Background: International guidelines recommend the routine use of oxygen in the initial treatment of myocardial infarction, yet it is uncertain what effect this might have on physiologic and clinical outcomes.

Methods: We undertook a systematic search of Medline, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, and CINHAL using the key words "oxygen," "coronary blood flow," "hyperoxia," and "coronary circulation" to identify human studies involving a measure of coronary blood flow while breathing oxygen and room air. The primary outcome measure was coronary blood flow; secondary outcomes included coronary vascular resistance and myocardial oxygen consumption.