Impact of patient characteristics on ASDAS disease activity state cut-offs in axial spondyloarthritis: results from nine European rheumatology registries.

Objectives: To re-evaluate cut-offs for disease activity states according to the Axial Spondyloarthritis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS), and study the impact of sex, age, calendar time, disease and symptom duration on ASDAS and ASDAS cut-offs in a large contemporary cohort.

Methods: Data from 2939 patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) starting their first tumour necrosis factor inhibitor in nine European registries were pooled and analysed. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to identify cut-offs against external criteria.

Sex Differences in the Effectiveness of First-Line Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors in Psoriatic Arthritis: Results From the European Spondyloarthritis Research Collaboration Network.

Objective: Women with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) may have reduced tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) effectiveness compared to men. We examined sex differences in treatment response and retention rates during 24 months of follow-up among patients with PsA initiating their first TNFi.

Methods: Data from patients with PsA across 13 European Spondyloarthritis Research Collaboration Network registries starting their first TNFi were pooled.

A lower frequency of inflammatory back pain in male patients with ankylosing spondylitis compared with female patients.

In routine rheumatology practice, we noticed that a significant number of male ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients did not experience inflammatory back pain (IBP). Based on this observation, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of IBP in male AS patients and compare it to that in female patients. Patients with AS who fulfilled the modified New York criteria were subjected to a face-to-face interview with a standardized questionnaire that addressed the IBP components based on the Berlin criteria.

Evaluation of middle ear and hearing status of ankylosing spondylitis patients with wideband tympanometry and pure tone audiometry tests.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the middle and inner ear function and hearing status of Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.

Methods: One hundred twenty-four ears of 62 patients with AS and 90 ears (control group) of 45 healthy subjects were included in the study. The hearing levels of the participants were assessed with pure tone and high-frequency audiometry at the octave frequency between 250 and 16,000 Hz.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and disease damage in patients with Takayasu arteritis.

Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is one of the preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of MetS on CVD and cumulative organ damage in a multi-center, large cohort of patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK).

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 192 consecutive TAK patients from seven tertiary rheumatology centers in Turkey.

Rituximab on lung, skin, and joint involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis: A case series study and review of the literature.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of rituximab (RTX) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods: Data were collected from patient charts before and after RTX administration for 1 year of follow-up time. An updated review of the literature was also done.

Pregnancy in Takayasu's arteritis has a high risk of hypertension-related fetomaternal complications: A retrospective study of a Turkish cohort.

Background: This study aimed to examine fetomaternal outcomes in pregnant women in a large Turkish Takayasu arteritis (TAK) cohort and to evaluate the effects of pregnancy on the disease in those patients.

Methods: This is a cohort study involving 296 pregnancies of 112 TAK patients from 8 tertiary rheumatology centers in Turkey. Pregnancies were divided into 2 groups as pre-d (before disease onset) and post-d (after disease onset).

The prevalence of Sjögren’s syndrome and sicca symptoms in patients with systemic sclerosis and alpha-smooth muscle actin expression in biopsy specimens from minor salivary glands.

Background/aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of sicca symptoms and secondary Sjögren’s syndrome (SjS) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Also this study aimed to evaluate the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α–SMA) in minor salivary gland (MSG) specimens, a possible marker of fibrosis responsible for myofibroblastic transformation.

Materials And Methods: Patients with SSc who were followed in Rheumatology outpatient clinic at a university hospital evaluated.

Pyomyositis and muscle abscess due to Salmonella enteritidis in a patient with Behçet's syndrome: a case report.

Salmonella infections usually present with gastrointestinal manifestations including enterocolitis especially in immunocompromised patients. Haematogenous dissemination and abscesses are very rare complications of Salmonella species. This case report documents a patient with Behçet's syndrome (BS) who has pyomyositis due to Salmonella species.

Prevalence, etiology and risk factors of anemia in patients with newly diagnosed cancer.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of anemia, and to evaluate the etiology and risk factors of anemia in patients with newly diagnosed cancer.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 310 patients with newly diagnosed cancer who were referred to a university hospital in Turkey over a 6-month period and 218 age-matched healthy individuals as controls were evaluated in terms of anemia: complete blood count (CBC), ferritin, transferrin saturation (TS%), serum iron (SI), cobalamin (B12), and folate levels. Carcinoma of the breast (21.

Imaging is the major determinant in the assessment of disease activity in Takayasu's arteritis.

Objectives: There are no valid follow-up parameters in the assessment of disease activity in Takayasu's arteritis (TAK). We investigated the impact of vascular imaging in the assessment of disease activity.

Methods: Patients with TAK who fulfilled the ACR criteria were included.

Genome-wide association study in Turkish and Iranian populations identify rare familial Mediterranean fever gene (MEFV) polymorphisms associated with ankylosing spondylitis.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a highly heritable immune-mediated arthritis common in Turkish and Iranian populations. Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive autoinflammatory disease most common in people of Mediterranean origin. MEFV, an FMF-associated gene, is also a candidate gene for AS.

Infliximab-associated focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in a patient with ankylosing spondylitis.

The introduction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-targeting drugs has given new opportunities in the treatment of various inflammatory rheumatic diseases and has been the most important development in the treatment of spondyloarthritis (SpA). However, the increasing use and longer follow-up periods of treatment also pose risks of developing various adverse effects ranging from common ones including infections to uncommon renal complications. This report describes a case of infliximab-induced focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in a 40-year-old female patient with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who presented with asymptomatic proteinuria and microscopic hematuria.

The validity and reliability study of the University of California, Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract (UCLA SCTC GIT) 2.0 questionnaire for the Turkish society.

Background/aims: To translate the University of California, Los Angeles Scleroderma Clinical Trial Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract (UCLA SCTC GIT) 2.0 questionnaire from English to Turkish and to validate it.

Materials And Methods: UCLA SCTC GIT 2.

Gender does not make a difference in "composite psoriatic disease activity index (CPDAI)" in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship of CPDAI with other follow-up parameters and to evaluate gender differences in measures in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients. This cross-sectional study included patients with PsA followed up at a rheumatology outpatient clinic. Disease activity was assessed using CPDAI, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Disease Activity Score (DAS28).

Osteoprotegrin interacts with biomarkers and cytokines that have roles in osteoporosis, skin fibrosis, and vasculopathy in systemic sclerosis: A potential multifaceted relationship between OPG/RANKL/TRAIL and Wnt inhibitors.

We explored the interactions of osteoprotegerin (OPG) with biomarkers of bone turnover and cytokines, including soluble receptor activator for nuclear factor kappa beta ligand (sRANKL), tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL), and Wnt inhibitors in osteoporosis, vasculopathy and fibrosis related to systemic sclerosis (SSc). The study included 46 SSc patients and 30 healthy controls. Skin thickness, pulmonary fibrosis and/or hypertension, digital ulcers, and calcinosis cutis of SSc patients were assessed.

Ankylosing Spondylitis: HLA-B*27-Positive Versus HLA-B*27-Negative Disease.

Purpose Of Review: We review our current knowledge about the clinical features of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who possess HLA-B*27 versus those who lack this gene.

Recent Findings: ERAP1 association is present only in HLA-B*27+ patients, but other genetic associations are similar between the two groups. A genetic study supports the existence of an HLA-B27-independent common link between gut inflammation and AS.