Three-dimensional ultrasonographic application for analyzing synovial hypertrophy of the knee in patients with osteoarthritis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate 3-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography for the visualization of intra-articular synovial hypertrophy in patients with osteoarthritis.

Methods: Knee joints of 22 patients with osteoarthritis were examined by 3D ultrasonography, and their synovial fluids were analyzed. Ultrasonographic image patterns, vascular endothelial growth factor and transforming growth factor beta concentrations in synovial fluid, and serum inflammatory markers were analyzed.

Visualization and localization of rheumatoid knee synovitis with FDG-PET/CT images.

We annually evaluated (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/ computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scans for three consecutive years in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. The inflammatory activity of the rheumatoid synovium was visualized in coronal and transverse sections by FDG-PET/CT. The extent and area of the synovial inflammation was relatively well delineated, and this technique was more informative in detecting inflammation than were conventional X-rays.

Application of three-dimensional computed tomography for the rheumatoid wrist.

Recent technical advances in computed tomography (CT) and the introduction of three-dimensional (3D) image reconstruction through computer systems make distinct visualization of tiny defects in the hand and wrist a feasible task. Three wrists from three patients -- two of whom are patients with rheumatoid arthritis and one with osteoarthritis -- were evaluated by 3D CT. Images were obtained with a multidetector-row CT scanner.

Polymorphisms of interleukin-10 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha genes are associated with newly diagnosed and recurrent pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background And Objectives: The genetic determinants for developing TB or having recurrent TB are unknown. The present study investigated the relationship between susceptibility to tuberculosis and human tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 genes (IL-10).

Methods: A case-control study was conducted using two groups of cases--newly diagnosed TB (N-TB) and recurrent TB (R-TB)--and a control group.

[Two cases of autoimmnune hepatitis associated with systemic lupus erythematosus].

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic necroinflammatory liver disease of unknown cause associated with circulating autoantibodies and high serum globulin level. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a disease of unknown etiology in which tissues and cells are damaged by pathogenic autoantibodies and immune complex, affecting multiple organs including the liver, kidney, and CNS. The difference between the hepatic involvement of SLE and autoimmune hepatitis has not been clearly defined in the past due to similarities in clinical and biochemical features.