Quadricuspid Aortic Valve and Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Coincidence or Interconnection.

Quadricuspid aortic valve is a very rare congenital anomaly. Its association with rheumatoid arthritis is exceptional with this being the third case reported in the literature. We report a case of a 52 year old female patient with quadricuspid aortic valve type C accompanied by moderate to severe aortic regurgitation and longstanding, advanced form of rheumatoid arthritis.

Efficacy and safety of tocilizumab versus standard care/placebo in patients with COVID-19; a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

Aims: Tocilizumab has emerged as an important therapy in treating patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tocilizumab versus standard care/placebo in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: We searched a variety of sources from 1 January 2020 to 5 May 2021.

Evaluation of the Efficacy of Combined Therapy of Methotrexate and Etanercept versus Methotrexate as a Mono-Therapy.

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of Methotrexate (MTX) alone and combined therapy with Etanercept (ETN) and Methotrexate in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: In the randomised control study, conducted in the period from March 2014 until March 2016, we evaluated the efficacy of the treatment of patients with RA with MTX as monotherapy and combination treatment with MTX and ETN. In the Clinic of Rheumatology in Prishtina, 90 adult patients with RA were treated in combination with ETN (doses of 50 mg subcutaneously/weekly), with oral MTX (doses up to 20 mg weekly), and MTX alone (doses up to 20 mg weekly) during this period of two years.

The Impact of Low-Dose Disease-modifying Anti-rheumatics Drugs (DMARDs) on Bone Mineral Density of Premenopausal Women in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by symmetrical polyarthritis and multisystemic involvement.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of low dose of methotrexate on bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Materials And Methods: This paper follows a retrospective study, which involves 60 female patients with early onset RA diagnosed according to the American Rheumatism Association Criteria (ACR/EULAR 2010).

IMPACT OF MORNING STIFFNESS, EDUCATION, AND AGE ON THE FUNCTIONAL STATUS OF PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between disability status and duration of morning stiffness in hands with regard to age, level of education, and gender in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Also, the authors wanted to investigate this relationship with regard to the presence of rheumatoid factor, i.e.

PERICARDIAL FEATURES OF IN-HOSPITAL RHEUMATOLOGY PATIENTS: AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY.

Rheumatic disorders can be associated with pericarditis, but severe forms of pericarditis are rare. The aim of this observational study was to evaluate pericardial features in patients with different rheumatic diseases. Thirty-five patients hospitalized at the Clinic of Rheumatology, University Clinical Center of Kosovo, from October 1 to October 21, 2014 were included in the study.

Late onset rheumatoid arthritis an observational study.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may have an onset at older age. The onset of the disease at the age of 60 and over is called late-onset rheumatoid arthritis (LORA). The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical, laboratory, radiological, and treatment characteristics of patients with LORA compared to those with early-onset RA (EaORA), provided that all the patients had an approximately equal duration of the disease.

Association of Body Weight and Body Mass Index with Bone Mineral Density in Women and Men from Kosovo.

Background And Objective: Body weight and body mass index (BMI) are considered potentially modifiable determinants of bone mass. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the association between body weight and body mass index (BMI) with total hip and lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD).

Methods: This cross-sectional study included a population of 100 women and 32 men from Kosovo into three BMI groups.

Course and prognosis in seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis.

Long since it have been suggested that a subpopulation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), diagnosed with negative rheumatoid factor (RF) tests, represents a clinical entity quite distinct from that of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of the study was to establish a scientific comparative analysis between RA seronegative and seropositive, regarding course and prognoses of the disease. Two hundred fifty patients with rheumatoid arthritis according to the (American College of Rheumatology) criteria were retrospectively studied by analysis the course and prognoses of disease.

Radiographic estimation in seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis.

Long since it have been suggested that a subpopulation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, diagnosed with negative rheumatoid factor tests, represents a clinical entity quite distinct from that of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our aim was to establish a scientific comparative analysis between seronegative and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis, regarding some radiological and clinical parameters, applied for the first time on patients from Kosovo. Two hundred fifty patients with rheumatoid arthritis according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria were retrospectively studied by analysis the radiographic damage and clinical parameters of the disease, using a data base.

The role of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in predicting rheumatoid arthritis.

The study presents the results of predicting role of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis, compared to rheumatoid factor. 32 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were identified from a retrospective chart review. The results of our study show that presence of the rheumatoid factor has less diagnostic and prognostic significance than the anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide, and suggests its superiority in predicting an erosive disease course.

Work disability remains a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis in the 2000s: data from 32 countries in the QUEST-RA study.

Introduction: Work disability is a major consequence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), associated not only with traditional disease activity variables, but also more significantly with demographic, functional, occupational, and societal variables. Recent reports suggest that the use of biologic agents offers potential for reduced work disability rates, but the conclusions are based on surrogate disease activity measures derived from studies primarily from Western countries.

Methods: The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) multinational database of 8,039 patients in 86 sites in 32 countries, 16 with high gross domestic product (GDP) (>24K US dollars (USD) per capita) and 16 low-GDP countries (<11K USD), was analyzed for work and disability status at onset and over the course of RA and clinical status of patients who continued working or had stopped working in high-GDP versus low-GDP countries according to all RA Core Data Set measures.

Extra-articular manifestations of seronegative and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis.

Although considered a "joint disease," rheumatoid arthritis is associated with the involvement of extra-articular manifestations. The aim of the study is the investigation and comparison of frequency and type of extra-articular manifestations in a well defined community based cohort of patients with seropositive and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. Using the ACR (1987) criteria for rheumatoid arthritis, patients have been classified into the 2nd and 3rd functional class (ARA).

The effects of combined therapy of rheumatoid arthritis on the acute phase reactants.

The paper presents the results of studies of acute phase reactants in the 60 treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Patients were divided into two groups, depending on the applied treatment: group I (n = 30) was treated with methotrexate, sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine, and group II (n = 30) with methotrexate. The results of our study shows that there is a statistically significant reduction in the value of acute phase reactants and clinical parameters after treatment in both investigated groups of patients, and also a significant statistical difference between the first and second group of treated patients.