Biomechanical Factors Predisposing to Knee Injuries in Junior Female Basketball Players.

This cross-sectional observational study aims to determine isokinetic normality data at different speeds, and isometric data of ankle and knee joints, in healthy basketball players aged 15-16 years old. The participants were recruited through non-probabilistic convenience sampling. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and biomechanical variables were collected.

Tocilizumab in visual involvement of giant cell arteritis: a multicenter study of 471 patients.

Background: Visual involvement is the most feared complication of giant cell arteritis (GCA). Information on the efficacy of tocilizumab (TCZ) for this complication is scarce and controversial.

Objective: We assessed a wide series of GCA treated with TCZ, to evaluate its role in the prevention of new visual complications and its efficacy when this manifestation was already present before the initiation of TCZ.

Multicenter Study of Secukinumab Survival and Safety in Spondyloarthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis: SEcukinumab in Cantabria and ASTURias Study.

We aimed to evaluate the drug retention rate and safety of secukinumab (SEC) in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in a real clinical setting. This multicenter retrospective observational study included all AxSpA and PsA patients who received at least one dose of SEC. Adverse events (AE) and the drug retention rate were the main study outcomes.

Tocilizumab in refractory giant cell arteritis. Monotherapy versus combined therapy with conventional immunosuppressive drugs. Observational multicenter study of 134 patients.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of TCZ in monotherapy (TCZ) vs. combined with conventional immunosuppressive drugs (TCZ) in Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA) in a clinical practice scenario.

Methods: Multicenter study of 134 patients with refractory GCA.

Abatacept in interstitial lung disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis: national multicenter study of 263 patients.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of abatacept (ABA) in RA patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) (RA-ILD).

Methods: This was an observational, multicentre study of RA-ILD patients treated with at least one dose of ABA. ILD was diagnosed by high-resolution CT (HRCT).

Construct validity of the ASAS health index in psoriatic arthritis: a cross-sectional analysis.

Objectives: The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society health index (ASAS-HI) was designed to assess the global health of patients with spondyloarthritis, but its performance in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is hardly known. We addressed the clinimetric properties of this instrument in patients with PsA.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study that included 90 consecutive patients with PsA.

Tocilizumab in giant cell arteritis: differences between the GiACTA trial and a multicentre series of patients from the clinical practice.

Objectives: A potential point of concern among clinicians is whether results derived from the clinical trials can be reasonably applied or generalised to a definable group of patients seen in real world. It can be the case of the GiACTA study that is a phase III randomised controlled trial of tocilizumab (TCZ) in giant cell arteritis (GCA). To address this question, we compared the clinical features and the responses to TCZ from the GiACTA trial patients with those from a series of GCA seen in the daily clinical practice.

Altered Th17/Treg Ratio in Peripheral Blood of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus but Not Primary Antiphospholipid Syndrome.

The role of the immune response in the pathogenesis of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) remains elusive. It is possible that differences in the frequencies of Th17 cells and/or defects in the immunoregulatory mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of APS. Our aim was to determine the peripheral blood Th cells phenotype and the circulating cytokine profile in patients with primary APS (pAPS) and compare it with systemic lupus erythemathosus (SLE) as disease control group.

Phagocyte dysfunction in polymyalgia rheumatica and other age-related, chronic, inflammatory conditions.

This study was conducted to evaluate phagocyte function in patients with age-related chronic inflammatory conditions. It included 95 patients with PMR, 17 with GCA, 40 with EORA, and 25 age-matched HCs. Serum IL-8 was determined with a bead array.

Analysis of the rs20541 (R130Q) polymorphism in the IL-13 gene in patients with elderly-associated chronic inflammatory diseases.

Objective: To investigate whether there is association between the rs20541 (R130Q) polymorphism in the IL-13 gene with disease susceptibility and clinical subsets in patients with elderly-associated inflammatory chronic diseases.

Material And Methods: 78 patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA), 174 with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), 90 elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA), and 465 healthy controls from the same geographic area were studied. The rs20541 (R130Q) polymorphism in the IL-13 gene was evaluated by PCR-RFLP.

[Advances in the diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis: identification of biomarkers and imaging studies].

Depending on the geographic area and the affected age group, large vessel vasculitis (LVV) are one of the most frequent types of systemic vasculitidies. Whereas giant cell arteritis (GCA) occurs exclusively in elderly individuals and is more frequent in countries with European ancestry, Takayasús arteritis (TA) mainly affects young women from eastern countries. The diagnosis of these disorders has been based on the characteristic clinical picture, together with the typical histopathological features in the temporal artery of patients with GCA, and the angiography results in TA patients.

Toll-like receptor 4 gene polymorphism and giant cell arteritis susceptibility: a cumulative meta-analysis.

Objective: Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 (+896 A/G) gene polymorphism has been reported to be associated with susceptibility to giant cell arteritis (GCA) with inconsistent results. To provide a more definitive conclusion, a cumulative meta-analysis of the association of TLR4 (+896 A/G) polymorphism with GCA susceptibility combining previous studies was performed.

Methods: The cumulative meta-analysis included 3 case-control studies which provided a total of 437 patients and 1023 controls.

Lack of association between Toll-like receptor 4 gene polymorphisms and giant cell arteritis.

Objective: Coding variants in Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) have been reported to be associated with inflammatory diseases. The aim of this study was to determine whether two of these polymorphisms (+896 A/G and +1196 C/T) are associated with susceptibility and clinical features of GCA. We also attempted to correlate the functional consequences of these polymorphisms.

Long-term successful adalimumab therapy in severe hidradenitis suppurativa.

Background: Several studies report the use of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors in refractory hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), particularly infliximab and etanercept. However, very limited data have been reported for adalimumab, the newest fully human anti-TNF-alpha monoclonal antibody. We evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of adalimumab therapy in 6 patients with refractory HS.