Safety and effectiveness of rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis following an inadequate response to 1 prior tumor necrosis factor inhibitor: the RESET Trial.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of rituximab (RTX) in combination with methotrexate in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after failure of a single tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitor. Changes in patient-reported outcomes after primary treatment or retreatment with RTX and factors determining retreatment in clinical practice were also evaluated.

Methods: In this phase 3b open-label, multicenter trial, patients received 2 slow infusions of RTX 1000 mg 14 days apart after premedication (primary treatment).

Hemodynamic physiology and thermoregulation in liposuction.

Little is known about the physiology of large-volume liposuction. Patients are exposed to prolonged procedures, general anesthesia, fluid shifts, and infusion of high doses of epinephrine and lidocaine. Consequently, the authors examined the thermoregulatory and cardiovascular responses to liposuction by assessing multiple physiologic factors.

A practical approach to a comprehensive epicardial and epiaortic echocardiographic examination.

Objective: More than a decade before the introduction of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), epicardial echocardiography was already in use as a diagnostic imaging modality to assist cardiac surgeons and anesthesiologists with clinical decision making. Although TEE has since become increasingly more popular, epicardial echocardiography may be the most convenient intraoperative imaging technique when TEE probe placement cannot be performed or is contraindicated. The authors developed a comprehensive examination protocol for the intraoperative interrogation of cardiac structures using an epicardial/epiaortic echocardiographic approach.