Improved Diagnostic Accuracy for Polymyalgia Rheumatica using FDG-PET/CT with Clinical Diagnosis or 2012 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria.

Purpose: In routine care, clinicians may employ 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT) to validate their initial clinical diagnosis of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). Nevertheless, the diagnostic utility of combining FDG-PET/CT findings with clinical presentation has not been explored. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether the diagnostic accuracy for PMR could be enhanced by combining FDG-PET/CT findings with the clinical baseline diagnosis or the 2012 ACR/EULAR clinical classification criteria for PMR.

Taper versus discontinuation of tocilizumab in patients with giant cell arteritis: Real-world experience from a tertiary center.

Introduction: Following the approval of tocilizumab (TCZ) for giant cell arteritis (GCA), recent studies have shown a high relapse frequency after abrupt discontinuation of TCZ. However, a thorough exploration of TCZ tapering compared to abrupt discontinuation has never been undertaken. Likewise, adverse events have only been scarcely investigated in routine care.

The effect of prednisolone and a short-term prednisolone discontinuation for the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET/CT in polymyalgia rheumatica-a prospective study of 101 patients.

Purpose: 2-[18F]Fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) has been suggested as an imaging modality to diagnose polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR). However, the applicability of FDG-PET/CT remains unclear, especially following glucocorticoid administration. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of FDG-PET/CT before and during prednisolone treatment, as well as following short-term prednisolone discontinuation.

The one-year infection risk among patients diagnosed with giant cell arteritis: use of antibiotics and hospitalisations.

Objectives: Patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) primarily have their infections managed by primary care providers and hospitalisation is rarely necessary. Existing studies in GCA focus on infection-related hospitalisations only, whereas the use of antibiotic prescriptions is largely unknown. This study aims to examine the one-year overall infection risk among patients with GCA.

A rare case of sarcoid myelitis complicating Löfgren's syndrome.

Neurosarcoidosis is a rare and serious condition. Rapid diagnosis and treatment are crucial to prevent morbidity and mortality. When neurological symptoms are not present at the time of diagnosis, CNS involvement can be undetected.

Ultrasonography in the assessment of disease activity in cranial and large-vessel giant cell arteritis: a prospective follow-up study.

Objectives: We evaluated sensitivity to change and discriminative abilities of vascular US scores in disease monitoring in the follow-up of a prospective cohort of new-onset cranial and large-vessel (LV) GCA patients.

Methods: Baseline and follow-up (8 weeks, 24 weeks and 15 months) US of temporal arteries (TA), carotid and axillary arteries (LV) included assessment of halo and measurement of the intima media complex (IMC). Max IMC, max halo IMC, sum IMC, sum halo IMC, mean IMC, halo count and the Southend halo score were calculated.

An international survey of current management practices for polymyalgia rheumatica by general practitioners and rheumatologists.

Objectives: To explore current management practices for PMR by general practitioners (GPs) and rheumatologists including implications for clinical trial recruitment.

Methods: An English language questionnaire was constructed by a working group of rheumatologists and GPs from six countries. The questionnaire focused on: 1: Respondent characteristics; 2: Referral practices; 3: Treatment with glucocorticoids; 4: Diagnostics; 5: Comorbidities; and 6: Barriers to research.

The provisional OMERACT ultrasonography score for giant cell arteritis.

Objectives: To develop an Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) ultrasonography score for monitoring disease activity in giant cell arteritis (GCA) and evaluate its metric properties.

Methods: The OMERACT Instrument Selection Algorithm was followed. Forty-nine members of the OMERACT ultrasonography large vessel vasculitis working group were invited to seven Delphi rounds.

Adjusting health care: practicing care for socially vulnerable type 2 diabetes patients.

Background: Type 2 diabetes cluster in lower social groups and people with type 2 diabetes from lower social groups experience more complications, benefit less from health services and live shorter lives than people with type 2 diabetes from higher social groups. Different logics govern diabetes care and potentially influence the possibility of socially vulnerable type 2 diabetes patients to access and benefit from health services. In order to understand which practice and underlying logic enable socially vulnerable type 2 diabetes patients to access and benefit from diabetes care we aim to describe what professionals at a specialized diabetes clinic do to adjust services to patient's needs and make the tasks involved in diabetes care doable for socially vulnerable patients and how this work is embedded in an organizational and moral context.

All-cause and cause-specific mortality in patients with giant cell arteritis: a nationwide, population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To investigate whether GCA is associated with increased all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Methods: A nationwide, population-based cohort study in Denmark using medical and administrative registries. GCA cases were defined as patients aged ≥50 years from 1996-2018 with a first-time discharge diagnosis of GCA and ≥3 prescriptions for prednisolone within 6 months following diagnosis.

OMERACT definition and reliability assessment of chronic ultrasound lesions of the axillary artery in giant cell arteritis.

Objectives: To define chronic ultrasound lesions of the axillary artery (AA) in long-standing giant cell arteritis (GCA) and to evaluate the reliability of the new ultrasound definition in a web-based exercise.

Methods: A structured Delphi, involving an expert panel of the Large Vessel Vasculitis subgroup of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Ultrasound Working Group was carried out. The reliability of the new definition was tested in a 2-round web-based exercise involving 23 experts and using 50 still images each from AA of long-standing and acute GCA patients, as well as 50 images from healthy individuals.

Giant cell arteritis: A nationwide, population-based cohort study on incidence, diagnostic imaging, and glucocorticoid treatment.

Aim: The study investigated the development over time of the incidence, diagnostic imaging, and treatment of giant cell arteritis (GCA).

Method: This nationwide, population-based cohort study was conducted in Denmark using medical and administrative registries. Incident GCA cases from 1996-2018 were defined as patients aged ≥50 years registered with a first-time GCA diagnosis and ≥3 prescriptions for glucocorticoids (GCs) within 6 months after diagnosis.

Positive Predictive Value of the Giant Cell Arteritis Diagnosis in the Danish National Patient Registry: A Validation Study.

Purpose: To investigate the positive predictive value (PPV) of the giant cell arteritis (GCA) diagnosis in the Danish National Patient Registry (DNPR).

Patients And Methods: A total of 293 patients aged ≥50 years with a first-time diagnosis of GCA in the DNPR between January 2012 and December 2017 were included. Patients were sampled from two secondary and one tertiary care hospitals in the Central Region Denmark.

Endovascular Treatment of Intracerebral Giant Cell Arteritis.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is the most common primary systemic vasculitis predominantly affecting large and medium sized vessels. In rare cases, the vasculitis can affect the vessels of the brain. We describe four cases of GCA with involvement of the cerebral vessels causing stroke.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound for detecting large-vessel giant cell arteritis using FDG PET/CT as the reference.

Objectives: The diagnostic accuracy of axillary artery US in the diagnosis of large-vessel (LV)-GCA using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT as reference standard was prospectively evaluated in GCA-suspected patients. As an exploratory analysis, the diagnostic accuracy of cranial artery FDG PET/CT was evaluated.

Methods: Briefly, the inclusion criteria were age ≥50 years, raised inflammatory markers and potential GCA symptoms.

Acetylcholinesterase-associated inflammation in patients with giant cell arteritis. Evaluation by histology and 11C-donepezil PET/CT.

Objectives: To investigate the in-situ expression of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the inflamed vessel wall of patients with biopsy-positive giant cell arteritis (GCA) as compared to biopsy-negative non-GCA patients, and to evaluate the in-vivo expression of AChE in patients with large-vessel GCA (LVGCA) by 11C-donepezil (AChE inhibitor) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT).

Methods: Twenty-four biopsy-positive GCA and 44 biopsy-negative non-GCA patients were included for AChE histology. Immunohistochemical methods were used to determine the AChE expression.

PR3-ANCA-associated vasculitis is associated with a specific motif in the peptide-binding cleft of HLA-DP molecules.

Objectives: This study aimed to characterize the association between HLA alleles and ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) in a genetically homogeneous population, and to analyse the contribution of specific HLA molecule amino acid sequences to the risk of AAV.

Methods: We included 187 Danish patients with AAV and 1070 healthy controls. All were HLA typed at two-field resolution.

Simple dichotomous assessment of cranial artery inflammation by conventional 18F-FDG PET/CT shows high accuracy for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis: a case-control study.

Purpose: To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of conventional 18F-FDG PET/CT of cranial arteries in the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA).

Methods: The study was a retrospective case-control study. The reference diagnosis was fulfillment of the 1990 ACR criteria for GCA.