Total hip replacement in patients eighty years of age and older.

Background: The number of people eighty years of age and older in developed countries is increasing, with a concomitant increased demand for total hip replacement. We analyzed the outcomes of total hip arthroplasty for patients in this age group using data from the Finnish National Arthroplasty Registry.

Methods: Data from the Finnish Arthroplasty Registry on 6540 patients (6989 hips) who were eighty years of age or older at the time of a total hip arthroplasty, performed between 1980 and 2004, were evaluated with use of survival analyses.

Alterations in corneal sensitivity and nerve morphology in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome.

The aim of the study was to assess subjective symptoms and objective clinical signs of dry eye in relation to corneal nerve morphology and sensitivity in primary Sjögren's syndrome. Twenty eyes of 20 primary Sjögren's syndrome patients and ten eyes of 10 healthy age- and sex-matched controls were included in the study. Ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire and visual analog scales were used to assess subjective symptoms.

Toll-like receptors in the interface membrane around loosening total hip replacement implants.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) have been known to act as sensors of innate immunity and respond to ligands of microbial and endogenous components. Tissues and cells typical for interface membrane of foreign body reaction were analyzed to evaluate potential role of TLRs in the pathogenesis of the so called "aseptic loosening of total hip replacement." Fourteen cases of interface membrane around aseptic loose total hip replacement implants were stained by single and double immunohistochemical methods to examine cellular localization of toll-like receptor (TLR)-4 and TLR-9.

Anti-TNF therapy in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis: the Finnish experience.

Biological therapy for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) has led to improved disease control beyond that of conventional treatments. International recommendations encourage clinicians prescribing biological treatments to register patients in national registers to collect information on outcome and toxicity. Patients with AS (n = 229) from the Register of Biological Treatment in Finland (ROB-FIN) with severe disease of long duration were followed-up for up to 24 months.

Immunohistopathology of Sjögren's syndrome.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is characterized by keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomia, which occur in an autoimmune lacrimal and salivary gland disease characterized by lymphocyte infiltrates of exocrine glands and/or Sjögren's syndrome autoantibody production. It has been reported that aquaporin-5 distribution is abnormal in SS, perhaps as a result of paracrine effect of TNF-alpha. Also the neurogenic regulation of the salivary gland is impaired in SS.

Revision total knee arthroplasty: 1990 through 2002. A review of the Finnish arthroplasty registry.

Background: National and regional arthroplasty registries have been used to study the results of primary total knee arthroplasties. The purpose of this paper was to present the results of revision total knee replacements and describe predictors of survival of those replacements, with repeat revision as the end point.

Methods: The nationwide Finnish Arthroplasty Registry included 2637 revision total knee arthroplasties from 1990 through 2002.

Collagenolytic proteinases in keratoconus.

Purpose: To study the proteolytic phenomena contributing to the pathogenesis of keratoconus, corneal enzymes with potential to cleave fibrillar collagen were studied.

Methods: Immunohistochemical labeling was undertaken of conventional and novel mammalian collagenases (MMP-1, -2, -8, -13, and -14) of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family and other collagenolytic proteinases of the serine (human trypsin-2) and cysteine (cathepsin K) endoproteinase families. The results were analyzed using a semiquantitative scoring system.

Effectiveness of anakinra in rheumatic disease in patients naive to biological drugs or previously on TNF blocking drugs: an observational study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of IL-1 inhibition in rheumatic disease using real-life, observational methods. We analyzed data from 47 patients collected from the national ROB-FIN for rheumatic disease. Commonly used, validated measures of efficacy and adverse effects were documented and analyzed.

Biological treatment in rheumatic diseases: results from a longitudinal surveillance: adverse events.

The objective of this study was to assess the long-term safety and tolerability of biologicals in a clinical setting. Data on adverse events (AEs) have been collected over a 5-year period by means of detailed reports sent in to the National Register of Biological Treatment in Finland (ROB-FIN) and validated by information collected by the National Agency for Medicines. Three hundred and eight reports on AEs were filed, concerning a total of 248 patients; this corresponds to 17% of all patients in the ROB-FIN register who started biological treatments.

Classic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in combination with infliximab. The Finnish experience.

To assess the performance of infliximab in a clinical setting, 364 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the National Register of Biological Treatment in Finland (ROB-FIN) were analysed. Corticosteroid usage and dose diminished (p<0.05 and 0.