UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract (GIT) 2.0 Reflux Scale Correlates With Impaired Esophageal Scintigraphy Findings in Systemic Sclerosis.

Objective: The University of California Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract 2.0 (GIT 2.0) instrument is a self-report tool measuring gastrointestinal (GI) quality of life in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Low frequency of axial involvement in southern Italian Caucasian children with HLA-B27 positive juvenile onset undifferentiated spondyloarthritis.

Objectives: To establish how many children with HLA B27-positive juvenile undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (JuSpA) living in southern Italy develop axial disease after 5 years of disease.

Methods: All children with B27-positive enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) consecutively seen in a 7-year period were entered in a special register and were followed prospectively. Each patient was examined at 6-month intervals, even if asymptomatic.

Sensitivity of the classification of psoriatic arthritis criteria in early psoriatic arthritis.

Objective: To determine the sensitivity of the CASPAR criteria in patients with early psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: Consecutive patients with a clinical diagnosis of PsA and a disease duration < 12 months were enrolled for study. The proportion of patients meeting the criteria (i.

Insulin resistance is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis.

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between insulin resistance (IR) and subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Carotid artery intima media thickness (IMT), using ultrasound evaluation, and other clinical and laboratory variables were investigated in 45 RA outpatients and in 48 controls with soft tissue disorders. IR was assayed by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA2) and metabolic syndrome by National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP ATP III) criteria.

High prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

The objective of this work is to investigate the occurrence of atherosclerosis and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients (pts). Twenty-four consecutive AS pts (men, 87.5%; median age, 50.