Upper gastrointestinal involvement in systemic sclerosis: Findings in a real-life setting.

Gastrointestinal tract involvement is the most common visceral affectation in systemic sclerosis (SSc), but the manifestations may vary in extension and severity. Endoscopic and histopathological gastroesophageal findings were investigated in patients with SSc. A total of 79 consecutive patients with definite SSc were enrolled in a cross sectional study.

The evolution of time-intensity curves of contrast enhanced ultrasonography in early arthritis patients with wrist involvement.

Aims: The aim of the study was to assess the evolution of time-intensity curves parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) after 6 months of conventional treatment in early arthritis patients with wrist involvement.

Material And Methods: Patients diagnosed with early rheumatoid arthritis or undifferentiated arthritis on the basis of 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria, with bilateral wrist arthritis and both radiocarpal (RC) and intercarpal (IC) synovial hypertrophy identified by grey-scale ultrasonography, were enrolled. Synovial hypertrophy was semi-quantitatively scored (grade 0-3) by grey-scale and by Power Doppler at wrist level.

The role of ultrasonography in assessing disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and associated fibromyalgia.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to compare and correlate US evaluation with clinical scores of the disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and concomitant fibromyalgia (FM).

Material And Methods: Ten patients diagnosed with RA according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria and associated FM based on the ACR 1990 classification criteria and two control groups, one with RA (10 patients) and one with FM (10 patients), were included. Clinical assessment was performed and the disease activity scores were calculated.