Does joint effusion influence the clinical response to a single Hylan GF-20 injection for hip osteoarthritis?

Objective: To evaluate the influence of a joint effusion on the clinical response to a single injection of Hylan GF-20 for hip osteoarthritis.

Method: We prospectively included patients scheduled for intraarticular Hylan GF-20 injection to treat hip osteoarthritis. Disease severity was assessed based on the Kellgren-Lawrence radiological grade.

A particular form of septic arthritis: septic arthritis of facet joint.

Only about 40 cases of septic arthritis of the facet joints have been reported to date. We report 6 new cases including 2 at the cervical spine, which is rarely involved. Mean age was 61.

Inflammatory and structural evaluation in spondyloarthritis: magnetic resonance imaging analysis of axial and peripheral involvement.

Objective: To determine the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) criteria of most value in the assessment of patients with spondyloarthropathy (SpA) with axial or peripheral involvement.

Methods: Fat suppressed (FS)-T2 and pre- and postinjection FS-T1 images were obtained in the most symptomatic region (axial or peripheral) of patients requiring tumor necrosis factor-a blockers. Thirty-eight MRI (21 axial and 17 peripheral) were blindly scored at synovial (S) and entheseal (E) sites by 2 experienced observers screening for 7 inflammatory and 7 structural predefined criteria, which were evaluated for frequency (N) and intra- and interobserver reproducibility.

Age-related quantitative MRI changes in healthy cartilage: preliminary results.

Objectives: As the early form of OA is characterized by elevated water content in the cartilage tissue, the purpose of this study was to verify in vivo if age-related changes in patellar cartilage in healthy volunteers can be detected using quantitative MRI with T2 mapping and volume measurement MRI methods.

Design: Thirty healthy volunteers of various classes of age (18 to 65 years old) were enrolled in this study. MR images of the patellar cartilage were acquired at 1.

Leflunomide in rheumatoid arthritis in daily practice: treatment discontinuation rates in comparison with other DMARDs.

Objective: To evaluate the treatment discontinuation rate of leflunomide in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in comparison with the discontinuation of other disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), in daily practice, in a single center and during the same period of time.

Study Design: 3-year, retrospective, monocenter.

Patients: RA patients for whom leflunomide or another DMARD was initiated between 1998 and 2001 (several DMARDs could be initiated for a given patient during this period).