Publications by authors named "Kyle M Walker"
Objectives: Our aim was to evaluate characteristics and prospective adverse aortic outcomes in a cohort of patients with non-infectious histological aortitis.
Methods: Patients with histological aortitis, diagnosed at the Ottawa Hospital after surgical repair of thoracic aortic aneurysms or dissections, consented to enrolment in a prospective observational cohort. Patients were assessed for an underlying inflammatory condition and followed prospectively with periodic clinical, laboratory and radiographic assessments.
Objective: There is a lack of agreement regarding treatment for many aspects of systemic sclerosis (SSc). We undertook this study to generate SSc treatment algorithms endorsed by a high percentage of SSc experts.
Methods: Experts from the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium and the Canadian Scleroderma Research group (n = 170) were asked whether they agreed with SSc algorithms from 2012.
Molecular anions have recently been detected in the interstellar and circumstellar media. Accurate modeling of their abundance requires calculations of collisional data with the most abundant species that are usually He atoms and H2 molecules. In this paper, we focus on the collisional excitation of the first observed molecular anion, C6H(-), by He and H2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Data from a small study testing imatinib to treat SSc were used to determine if cytokine changes were related to differences in clinical parameters to model future early phase trials pairing cytokine changes and clinical parameters.
Methods: Plasma and punch skin biopsy specimens collected at baseline and 6 months were analysed for levels of 26 fibrotic and inflammatory cytokines using multiplexed immunoassays and ELISA. Seven of nine patients on active treatment had paired data.
Objectives: There is a need for standardization in systemic sclerosis (SSc) management.
Methods: SSc experts (n = 117) were sent 3 surveys to gain consensus for SSc management.
Results: First-line therapy for scleroderma renal crisis (SRC) was an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi).
Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are innate lymphocytes with unique reactivity to glycolipid antigens bound to non-polymorphic CD1d molecules. They are capable of rapidly releasing pro- and/or anti-inflammatory cytokines and constitute attractive targets for immunotherapy of a wide range of diseases including autoimmune disorders. In this study, we have explored the beneficial effects of OCH, a Th2-polarizing glycolipid agonist of iNKT cells, in a humanized mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in which citrullinated human proteins are targeted by autoaggressive immune responses in mice expressing an RA susceptibility human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR4 molecule.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The European League Against Rheumatism/EULAR Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EULAR/EUSTAR) has published recommendations for the management of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Members of the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium and the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group were surveyed regarding their level of agreement with the recommendations.
Methods: A survey containing the 14 EULAR/EUSTAR recommendations asked participants to indicate their level of agreement with each on a 10-point scale, from 0 (not at all) to 9 (completely agree).