Lessons of the month: Reemergence of rheumatic fever after a systemic streptococcal A infection: The role of cardiac MRI on the diagnosis of subclinical rheumatic carditis.

A 42-year-old man presented with fever, sore throat, rash and painful right knee swelling, preceded by self-medication with oral steroids. Blood and knee cultures yielded group A After 2 weeks of intravenous antibiotics and two arthroscopic knee debridements, he continued to experience spiking fevers, and electrocardiographic changes developed. We postulate that the patient suffered from the first presentation of acute rheumatic fever, following an invasive group A bacteraemic streptococcal infection.

Granulomatous infection of the hand and wrist due to Azospirillum spp.

We report a case of Azospirillum infection manifestating as granulomatous tenosynovitis of the right hand, in an immunocompetent middle-aged female. We highlight the unusual source of the infection, the diagnostic workup, as well as the treatment approach.

Cardiovascular disease is related to hypertension in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a greek cohort study.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among Greek patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) under medical followup, and to assess the contribution of traditional CVD and RA-specific factors associated with CVD development.

Methods: This is a historic cohort study; information was collected from medical records of patients who had > 2 years' followup. Sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic variables were evaluated for association with development of CVD.

Effect of anti-TNF treatment on body composition and serum adiponectin levels of women with rheumatoid arthritis.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNF) treatment on body composition and serum adiponectin levels of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Nineteen women with RA starting anti-TNF treatment were included in the study. Disease activity, body composition, lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) and serum adiponectin concentrations were measured at baseline and after 1 year of follow-up.

Peripheral neuropathy in two patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving infliximab treatment.

Antitumor necrosis alpha agents have been successfully used for the treatment of rheumatoid and seronegative arthritis, Crohn's disease, psoriasis, and severe cases of vasculitis. Several side effects have been observed in patients receiving these agents including hypersensitivity reactions, infections, drug-induced lupus, or demyelinating syndromes. The presence of peripheral neuropathy has been reported only in isolated cases.

Visceral leishmaniasis resembling systemic lupus erythematosus.

We describe three cases with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) associated with autoimmune manifestations. The patients presented with anemia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, renal involvement and low complement levels. Autoimmune features were present (antinuclear and anticardiolipin antibodies, VDRL, RF, positive direct Coombs' test), which subsided after therapy.