Cranial and extracranial manifestations of giant cell arteritis: a single-center observational study.

Introduction: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) presents two major phenotypes - cranial (cGCA) and extracranial (exGCA). exGCA may be overlooked. The study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics between cGCA and exGCA.

Combination Treatment of Locoregionally Aggressive Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis and Cranial Base Infiltration.

Objectives: To present a personalized approach in three cases of treatment-resistant, locoregionally aggressive forms of cANCA-positive granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) and skull base involvement.

Methods: Three patients with GPA and skull base involvement were described alongside a critical review of the current literature.

Results: All presented patients suffered from GPA with an inflammatory tumor at the skull base, alongside cerebellopontine angle involvement, cranial nerve palsies, cerebellar disorders, concomitant hearing loss, and severe otalgia.

Diagnostic agreement between radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in the assessment of osteoporosis in a Polish group of patients.

Introduction: Osteoporosis is still underdiagnosed in Poland, partly due to limited accessibility to the gold-standard diagnostic technique, that is, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of the proximal femur and lumbar spine. The use of radiofrequency echographic multispectrometry (REMS) as an alternative diagnostic tool might be of particular interest because this technique is nonionizing, the devices are portable, and their utilization relatively cheap.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the agreement between a novel quantitative technique (REMS) and DXA in the evaluation of bone mineral density and diagnosis of osteoporosis.

Color fraction as a useful method of imaging synovium vascularization in patients with high activity of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease with joint inflammation and destruction as the main features that appears with prevalence of 1 to 2% of the general population. Women are three times more likely to suffer from RA than men. Rheumatoid arthritis occurs at any age but commonly over 40-50 years old.

Diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties in a patient with chronic recurrent multifocal osteomyelitis coexisting with ulcerative colitis.

Chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) is a rare autoinflammatory bone disease, affecting mainly children. CNO includes a broad clinical spectrum of symptoms and signs, from mild, limited in time, unifocal osteitis to severe, chronic, active or recurrent, multifocal osteomyelitis. In 2014 diagnostic criteria for CNO were proposed, the Bristol Criteria for the Diagnosis of Chronic Non-bacterial Osteitis, taking into account the clinical picture - location and number of inflammatory foci, characteristic changes on radiological examination (X-ray) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, and changes in bone biopsy.

Selected issues in diagnostic imaging of spondyloarthritides: psoriatic arthritis and juvenile spondyloarthritis.

Spondyloarthritides (also known as spondyloarthropathies) are a group of rheumatic diseases that consists of diversified entities, i.e. ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, arthritis in the course of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and juvenile spondyloarthropathies.

Imaging of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Part II: Ultrasonography and MRI.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is the most common autoimmune systemic disease of the connective tissue affecting individuals in the developmental age. Radiography, which was described in the first part of this publication, is the standard modality in the assessment of this condition. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging enable early detection of the disease which affects soft tissues, as well as bones.

Imaging of juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Part I: Clinical classifications and radiographs.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is the most common autoimmune systemic disease of the connective tissue affecting individuals at the developmental age. Radiography is the primary modality employed in the diagnostic imaging in order to identify changes typical of this disease entity and rule out other bone-related pathologies, such as neoplasms, posttraumatic changes, developmental defects and other forms of arthritis. The standard procedure involves the performance of comparative joint radiographs in two planes.

Charcot arthropathy in ultrasound examination - a case report.

This article presents a patient with a long history of type 1 diabetes mellitus complicated with neuropathy and Charcot disease. The most common cause of neuropathic osteoarthropathy, called Charcot osteoarthropathy, is poorly controlled diabetes. The clinical picture is characterized by considerable edema, redness and increased skin temperature with relatively slight pain due to injury to nerve fibers responsible for pain sensation.

Role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of rheumatic diseases in light of ACR/EULAR guidelines.

In the past years, ultrasound imaging has become an integral element of the diagnostic process in rheumatic diseases. It enables the identification of a range of inflammatory changes in joint cavities, sheaths and bursae, and allows their activity to be assessed. In 2012, experts of the European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology prepared recommendations concerning the role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal diseases.

Radial sesamoid fracture of the second MCP joint - a case report.

A fracture of the sesamoid bone of the hand is rarely seen. In most cases, it is strictly associated with the trauma. The patient complains of a long-lasting, due to unclear diagnosis, painful swelling of the joint with an inability to flex the affected finger.

The value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of limited scleroderma - a case report.

Systemic sclerosis, popularly referred to as scleroderma, is a chronic connective tissue disease with present autoantibodies against platelet-derived growth factor receptor. These antibodies activate directly fibroblasts causing the dermis and internal organs' fibrosis and vascular damage. Additionally, calcific collections, including hydroxyapatite crystals, may develop in subcutaneous tissue and juxta-articular soft tissue.