Postoperative risk of venous thromboembolism in rheumatic disease patients.

Both traditional and disease-related risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) must be considered when assessing rheumatic disease patients preoperatively. While many studies suggest that patients with rheumatic diseases are at higher risk of VTE overall, studies in rheumatoid arthritis patients do not demonstrate an increased risk of postoperative VTE. Here, we review the literature on VTE risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Behcet's disease, and vasculitis.

Effect of age at menopause on disease presentation in early rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort.

Objective: Studies suggest that hormonal states affect disease characteristics in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study investigated how age at menopause affects disease in women presenting with early RA.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of postmenopausal women with early RA under age 65 years at time of enrollment in the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort.

Autoshaping of chlordiazepoxide drinking in non-deprived rats.

Effects of autoshaping procedures (Paired versus Random) and sipper fluid [chlordiazepoxide (CDP) versus water] on sipper-directed drinking were evaluated in 32 male Long-Evans rats maintained with free access to food and water. For the Paired/CDP group (n = 16), autoshaping procedures consisted of the presentation of the CDP sipper conditioned stimulus (CS) followed by the response-independent presentation of the food unconditioned stimulus (US). The concentration of CDP in the sipper CS (0.