Characteristics of Patients with Adult-Onset Dermatomyositis at 2 Tertiary Care Centres in Ontario, Canada.

Dermatomyositis (DM) is an idiopathic inflammatory myopathy characterized by progressive muscle weakness and distinctive cutaneous findings. The exact incidence and prevalence of DM in the general population is largely unknown, and data on demographic and clinical features in patients in Canada are lacking. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the patients with DM in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

2023 ACR/EULAR antiphospholipid syndrome classification criteria.

Objective: To develop new antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) classification criteria with high specificity for use in observational studies and trials, jointly supported by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and EULAR.

Methods: This international multidisciplinary initiative included four phases: (1) Phase I, criteria generation by surveys and literature review; (2) Phase II, criteria reduction by modified Delphi and nominal group technique exercises; (3) Phase III, criteria definition, further reduction with the guidance of real-world patient scenarios, and weighting via consensus-based multicriteria decision analysis, and threshold identification; and (4) Phase IV, validation using independent adjudicators' consensus as the gold standard.

Results: The 2023 ACR/EULAR APS classification criteria include an entry criterion of at least one positive antiphospholipid antibody (aPL) test within 3 years of identification of an aPL-associated clinical criterion, followed by additive weighted criteria (score range 1-7 points each) clustered into six clinical domains (macrovascular venous thromboembolism, macrovascular arterial thrombosis, microvascular, obstetric, cardiac valve, and hematologic) and two laboratory domains (lupus anticoagulant functional coagulation assays, and solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for IgG/IgM anticardiolipin and/or IgG/IgM anti-β-glycoprotein I antibodies).

Correction to: A single-arm feasibility cohort study of rivaroxaban in antiphospholipid syndrome.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s40814-020-00594-1.].

A single-arm feasibility cohort study of rivaroxaban in antiphospholipid syndrome.

Background: There is uncertainty regarding the safety and effectiveness of direct oral anticoagulant agents in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). We performed a multicenter feasibility study to examine our ability to identify and obtain consent from eligible APS patients and to obtain 95% adherence with daily rivaroxaban administration, in order to inform and power a larger study. Clinical outcomes of bleeding and thrombosis were also collected.

Strategies for eliciting and synthesizing evidence for guidelines in rare diseases.

Background: Rare diseases are a global public health priority. Though each disease is rare, when taken together the thousands of known rare diseases cause significant morbidity and mortality, impact quality of life, and confer a social and economic burden on families and communities. These conditions are, by their nature, encountered very infrequently by individual clinicians, who may feel unprepared to address their diagnosis and treatment.

Canadian Rheumatology Association Recommendations for the Assessment and Monitoring of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

Objective: To develop recommendations for the assessment of people with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Canada.

Methods: Recommendations were developed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach. The Canadian SLE Working Group (panel of Canadian rheumatologists and a patient representative from Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance) was created.

Prevention of Recurrent Thrombosis in Antiphospholipid Syndrome: Different from the General Population?

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is characterized by arterial and/or venous thrombosis with or without pregnancy morbidity in the presence of autoantibodies targeting proteins that associate with membrane phospholipids, termed "antiphospholipid antibodies" (aPL). Management of arterial and venous thromboses shares some similarities with management of arterial and venous thromboses in the general population; however, there are key differences. The majority of studies addressing management of thrombotic APS focus on secondary prevention.

Quality of discharge summaries prepared by first year internal medicine residents.

Background: Patients are particularly susceptible to medical error during transitions from inpatient to outpatient care. We evaluated discharge summaries produced by incoming postgraduate year 1 (PGY-1) internal medicine residents for their completeness, accuracy, and relevance to family physicians.

Methods: Consecutive discharge summaries prepared by PGY-1 residents for patients discharged from internal medicine wards were retrospectively evaluated by two independent reviewers for presence and accuracy of essential domains described by the Joint Commission for Hospital Accreditation.

Fibrinogen catabolism within the procoagulant VX-2 tumor of rabbit lung in vivo: Effluxing fibrin(ogen) fragments contain antiangiogenic activity.

Many types of solid tumors are known to be procoagulant environments. This is partly because a hyperpermeable vascular system within the tumor allows plasma hemostatic factors to accumulate in relatively high concentrations in the stroma, and many solid-tumor cells express tissue factor or a procoagulant factor. These circumstances appear to exist in the VX-2 lung tumor of the New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit, and they sustain a measurable turnover of stromal deposits of fibrin(ogen).

Angiostatin II is the predominant glycoform in pleural effusates of rabbit VX-2 lung tumors.

Angiostatin (AST), a polypeptide with potent antiangiogenic properties, is released proteolytically from plasminogen in vivo. Plasminogen exists naturally in plasma as two glycoforms (PLGs), I and II. Recently it was shown with the use of a chick-embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay that rabbit PLG-I and -II yield distinct ASTs-AST-I and -II, respectively-with different antiangiogenic activities.