The role of blood testing in prevention, diagnosis, and management of chronic diseases: A review.

Blood tests are vital to prevention, diagnosis, and management of chronic diseases. Despite this, it can be challenging to construct a comprehensive view of the clinical importance of blood testing because relevant literature is typically fragmented across different disease areas and patient populations. This lack of collated evidence can also make it difficult for primary care providers to adhere to best practices for blood testing across different diseases and guidelines.

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of infliximab in refractory polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

Objective: To investigate in a pilot study the safety and efficacy of infliximab in patients with refractory dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM).

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including subjects with active DM or PM. Participants had stable doses of immunosuppressive medication and prednisone (≤0.

Damage extent and predictors in adult and juvenile dermatomyositis and polymyositis as determined with the myositis damage index.

Objective: We undertook this study to validate the Myositis Damage Index (MDI) in juvenile and adult myositis, to describe the degree and types of damage and to develop predictors of damage.

Methods: Retrospective MDI evaluations and prospective assessment of disease activity and illness features were conducted. Patients with juvenile-onset disease (n = 143) were evaluated a median of 18 months after diagnosis; 135 patients were assessed 7-9 months later, and 121 were last assessed a median of 82 months after diagnosis.