Performance of a novel high-resolution infrared thermography marker in detecting and assessing joint inflammation: a comparison with joint ultrasound.

Objectives: To examine the value of a novel high-resolution thermographic marker in the detection of joint inflammation compared to joint ultrasound (US) and to suggest thermographic cut-off values of joint inflammatory activity.

Methods: Infrared thermographies were performed in patients with inflammatory arthritides and healthy controls. Patients were moreover examined clinically and by joint-US [Power-Doppler-(PDUS), Greyscale-US (GSUS)].

Optical spectral transmission to assess glucocorticoid therapy response in patients with arthritis: a longitudinal follow-up comparison with joint ultrasound.

Background: Optical spectral transmission (OST) is a modern diagnostic modality, able to assess the blood-specific absorption of light transmitted through a tissue, promising quantification of inflammation in the finger and wrist joints of patients with arthritis. To date, there are no adequate data regarding the diagnostic value of OST in the evaluation of inflammatory activity changes, during arthritis follow-up. Objectives of this study were therefore to examine the performance of OST in assessing response to anti-inflammatory therapy in patients with active arthritis and to explore OST associations with clinical, laboratory, and ultrasonographic (US) activity markers.

Possible misclassification of cardiovascular risk by SCORE in antisynthetase syndrome: results of the pilot multicenter study RI.CAR.D.A.

Objectives: To test the ability of an established traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk prediction score [Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE)] and its EULAR modified version (mSCORE) to identify antisynthetase syndrome (ASyS) patients at high CV risk and to examine for the first time associations of CV and cerebrovascular surrogate markers with clinical and immunological ASyS parameters.

Methods: SCORE/mSCORE and the gold standard marker of aortic stiffness [carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV)] were examined in ASyS patients and healthy controls. Moreover, sonography of the common- (CCA) and internal- (ICA) carotid arteries was performed in subsets of both groups, evaluating carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), plaques and Doppler sonographic cerebrovascular surrogates [resistance (RI) and pulsatility (PI) indices].

Diagnostic Value of Optical Spectral Transmission in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Associations with Clinical Characteristics and Comparison with Joint Ultrasonography.

Objective: To examine the value of optical spectral transmission (OST) in detecting joint inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to evaluate whether OST correlates with certain patient characteristics.

Methods: OST measurements were performed in the metacarpophalangeal, proximal intraphalangeal, and wrist joints of 168 patients with RA and 114 controls. OST difference between the 2 groups was statistically examined and subsequently controlled for the effect of possible confounding factors.

[Real World Management of Gouty Arthritis: Clinical, Epidemiological and Comorbidity Data from 4016 Patients in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany].

Background: To examine clinical, comorbidity and demographic aspects of gout and to explore the routine clinical practice of gout treatment among general practitioners (G.P.'s) in southwest Germany.

High cardiovascular risk in mixed connective tissue disease: evaluation of macrovascular involvement and its predictors by aortic pulse wave velocity.

Objectives: Macrovascular involvement and cardiovascular (CV) risk has not been sufficiently studied in mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD). In particular, the gold standard assessment method of aortic stiffness carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) has never been evaluated in patients with this disease. The aims of the present study were therefore to examine cfPWV in MCTD and to evaluate its associations with MCTD-associated markers and traditional CV risk factors.

Efficacy of the Laparoendoscopic "Rendezvous" to Treat Cholecystocholedocholithiasis in 210 Consecutive Patients: A Single Center Experience.

Objective: The simultaneous laparoendoscopic "rendezvous" (LERV) represents an alternative to sequential or totally laparoscopic approaches for patients affected by cholecystocholedocholithiasis. The aim of this study was to analyze the results in a large series of 210 consecutive patients.

Materials And Methods: From 2002 to 2016 all patients affected by cholecystocholedocholithiasis were treated with a standardized "tailored" LERV.

Laparo-endoscopic rendez-vous versus sequential "delayed" approach in patients with choledocholithiasis.

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of synchronous laparoscopic cholecystectomy with laparo-endoscopic rendez-vous (LRV) technique vs. sequential "delayed" approach with the main goal to compare the conversion rate and postoperative complications.

Methods: Patients diagnosed as having gallstones and CBD stones or sludge were enrolled in this study.

The count of tender rather than swollen joints correlates with aortic stiffness in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are at a higher cardiovascular (CV) risk in comparison to the general population. CV risk associates closely with aortic stiffness. Aim of this exploration was therefore to evaluate aortic stiffness in patients with RA and to examine its association with various RA associated parameters as well as with traditional CV risk factors.

PrP genotype frequencies and risk evaluation for scrapie in dairy sheep breeds from southern Italy.

Concerns regarding scrapie in sheep breeding have increased in the last few decades. The present study was carried out in dairy sheep breeds from southern Italy. In order to find breeding animals resistant to scrapie, the PrP genes of 1,205 animals from entire flocks of dairy native Apulian Leccese and Altamurana breeds, and Sicilian Comisana breed, were analysed for polymorphisms at codons 136, 154, and 171 related to scrapie resistance/susceptibility.

Laparo-endoscopic "Rendezvous" to treat cholecysto-choledocolithiasis: Effective, safe and simplifies the endoscopist's work.

Aim: To investigate our clinical experience with combined laparo-endoscopic Rendezvous (RV) for the treatment of patients affected by gallstones and common bile duct (CBD) stones and especially to study the never evaluated opinion of the endoscopist concerning the difficulty of the intraoperative endoscopic procedure during the RV in comparison with standard endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP).

Methods: Eighty consecutive patients affected by cholecystolithiasis and diagnosed or suspected CBD stones were treated with a standardized "tailored" RV. The relevant technical features, the feasibility, the effectiveness in stone clearance, the safety but also the simple evaluation of difficulty and agreement of the endoscopist were analyzed with a questionnaire.

Successful endoscopic repair of an unusual colonic perforation following polypectomy using an endoclip device.

Colonic perforation during endoscopic diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, represents an uncommon occurrence even if, together with haemorrhage, it is still the most common complication of colonoscopy, with an incidence ranging between 0.1% and 2% of all colonoscopic procedures. The ideal treatment in these cases remains elusive as the endoscopist and the surgeon have to make a choice case by case, depending on many factors such as how promptly the rupture is identified, the condition of the patient, the degree of contamination and the evidence of peritoneal irritation.

Rendezvous technique versus endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography to treat bile duct stones reduces endoscopic time and pancreatic damage.

Background: Endoscopic procedures on Vater's papilla are related to pancreatic damage with or without pathologic increase of pancreatic enzymes. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with endoscopic sphincterotomy is a standard treatment for common bile duct stones, performed sequentially before or after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The "rendezvous" (RV) procedure combines laparoscopic cholecystectomy, intra-operative cholangiography, and endoscopic bile duct clearance and is an alternative to the sequential treatment.

Acute biliary pancreatitis and cholecystolithiasis in a child: one time treatment with laparoendoscopic "rendez-vous" procedure.

Acute biliary pancreatitis (ABP) is rare in childhood and endoscopic sphincterotomy should be avoided in the child due to the risk of both early and late complications but, when necessary, the optimal timing between endoscopic procedure and cholecystectomy is still uncertain. A nine years old child with acute biliary pancreatitis underwent successful laparo-endoscopic "Rendez-Vous" procedure in which endoscopic drainage of the common bile duct and laparoscopic cholecystectomy were performed simultaneously. This is the first case reported of laparo-endoscopic Rendez-Vous in a child.