Temporal relationships between systemic lupus erythematosus and comorbidities.

Objective: To examine the burden of comorbidities prior to and after the diagnosis of SLE and its impact on mortality.

Methods: We identified 1605 incident cases of SLE and 6284 matched controls from the UK primary care. The risks of comorbidities before (prevalence; odds ratios) and after SLE diagnosis (incidence; hazard ratios) and the impact of comorbidities at diagnosis on all-cause mortality were estimated.

Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of nurse-led care involving education and engagement of patients and a treat-to-target urate-lowering strategy versus usual care for gout: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: In the UK, gout management is suboptimum, with only 40% of patients receiving urate-lowering therapy, usually without titration to achieve a target serum urate concentration. Nurses successfully manage many diseases in primary care. We compared nurse-led gout care to usual care led by general practitioners (GPs) for people in the community.

The worldwide incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus: a systematic review of epidemiological studies.

Objectives: The aim was to review the worldwide incidence and prevalence of SLE and variation with age, sex, ethnicity and time.

Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE search engines was carried out using Medical Subject Headings and keyword search terms for Systemic Lupus Erythematosus combined with incidence, prevalence and epidemiology in August 2013 and updated in September 2016. Author, journal, year of publication, country, region, case-finding method, study period, number of incident or prevalent cases, incidence (per 100 000 person-years) or prevalence (per 100 000 persons) and age, sex or ethnic group-specific incidence or prevalence were collected.

Early Clinical Features in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Can They Be Used to Achieve Earlier Diagnosis? A Risk Prediction Model.

Objective: To compare the primary care consulting behavior, prior to diagnosis, of people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with controls, and to develop and validate a risk prediction model to aid earlier SLE diagnosis.

Methods: We included a total of 1,739 incident SLE cases practice-matched to 6,956 controls from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Using logistic regression, odds ratios were calculated for age, sex, consultation rates, selected presenting clinical features, and previous diagnoses in the 5 years preceding diagnosis date.

Mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus in the United Kingdom 1999-2012.

Objectives: To estimate the mortality associated with SLE during the period 1999-2012 by age, gender and region; and to ascertain the cause of death for people with SLE.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Incident SLE cases diagnosed between 1999 and 2012 were matched by age, sex and practice to four controls.

Burden of Comorbidity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in the UK, 1999-2012.

Objective: To estimate the comorbidity associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the UK during 1999-2012.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink was conducted. Prevalent cases of SLE were matched by age, sex, and practice to 4 controls.

Patients with gout can be cured in primary care.

Gout affects 2.5% of the total UK population and is four times more common in men than women. The peak prevalence and incidence in the UK is in those aged 80-84 years.

The incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in the UK, 1999-2012.

Objectives: To estimate the incidence and prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the UK over the period 1999-2012.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). The incidence was calculated per 100 000 person-years and the prevalence was calculated per 100 000 people for the period 1999-2012 and stratified by year, age group, gender, region and ethnicity.

Optimizing current treatment of gout.

Gout is the most common inflammatory arthritis worldwide. Although effective treatments exist to eliminate sodium urate crystals and to 'cure' the disease, the management of gout is often suboptimal. This article reviews available treatments, recommended best practice and barriers to effective care, and how these barriers might be overcome.

Compliance with NICE guidance on the use of anti-TNFalpha agents in ankylosing spondylitis: an east and west Midlands regional audit.

Here we report on an audit performed to examine compliance with National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for the use of anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFalpha) in treating patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). Data from 17 rheumatology centres across the Midlands were collected prospectively from patients with AS attending outpatient clinics and retrospectively in patients receiving anti-TNFalpha but not attending outpatient clinics during the audit. In total, 80% of the 416 patients for whom data were collected were male.

Patients with gout adhere to curative treatment if informed appropriately: proof-of-concept observational study.

Introduction: Many doctors believe that patients with gout are unwilling to receive urate-lowering therapy (ULT) and blame them for poor adherence to management.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of a complex intervention for gout that incorporates key elements of current guidelines, including full patient information, delivered in an optimal setting (specialist hospital clinic).

Method: Observational study of patients reporting ongoing attacks of gout recruited from primary care lists.

Distribution of finger nodes and their association with underlying radiographic features of osteoarthritis.

Objective: To determine the distribution of clinically palpable hand interphalangeal (IP) nodes at each finger and thumb joint in a population with nodes, the influence of left or right hand dominance and sex on the development of nodes, and the association between nodes and underlying radiographic features of osteoarthritis (OA).

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of participants in the Genetics of Osteoarthritis and Lifestyle (GOAL) study who had ≥1 Heberden's nodes or Bouchard's nodes on clinical examination. Frequencies (%) of nodes were described for each IP joint in the hand.

Long-term follow-up of different refractory systemic vasculitides treated with rituximab.

There is increasing interest in rituximab (RTX) as an alternative to cyclophosphamide (CYC) for remission induction in systemic vasculitis. Recent studies have reported high remission rates, but it is not clear how long the initial remission lasts [1, 2]. A retrospective study was undertaken of 15 cases of refractory systemic vasculitis (11 Wegener's granulomatosis, 1 Churg-Strauss syndrome, 1 cutaneous polyarteritis nodosa and 2 cryoglobulinaemic vasculitis) treated with RTX, with a mean follow-up of 34 months.

Conformational isomerization kinetics of pent-1-en-4-yne with 3,330 cm-1 of internal energy measured by dynamic rotational spectroscopy.

We demonstrate the application of molecular rotational spectroscopy to measure the conformation isomerization rate of vibrationally excited pent-1-en-4-yne (pentenyne). The rotational spectra of single quantum states of pentenyne are acquired by using a combination of IR-Fourier transform microwave double-resonance spectroscopy and high-resolution, single-photon IR spectroscopy. The quantum states probed in these experiments have energy eigenvalues of approximately 3,330 cm(-1) and lie above the barrier to conformational isomerization.