The Performance of 2023 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) / European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Antiphospholipid Syndrome Classification Criteria in a Real-World Rheumatology Department.

Background: Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) is one of the most common acquired causes of hypercoagulability. The 2023 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) / European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) APS Classification Criteria were specified as new APS classification criteria with high specificity for use in observational studies and research. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the 2023 ACR/EULAR APS classification criteria in a real-world rheumatology department.

Audiological involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate hearing loss in patients diagnosed with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and to investigate the relation between hearing loss, subtypes of the disease, its duration and clinical findings, and antibody positivity.

Methods: The study included 47 patients with SSc and 44 healthy controls. Audiometric, tympanometric, and otoacoustic emission measurements were applied to both groups.

Primary Hypertrophic Osteoarthropathy Mimicking Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A Novel SLCO2A1 Mutation and Imaging Findings.

Primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (PHO), also known as pachydermoperiostosis, is a rare, multisystemic, autosomal recessive condition typically presenting with digital clubbing, osteoarthropathy, and various skin manifestations. Radiographs show distinctive periosteal reaction and thickening along the long bones. PHO is caused by homozygous mutations in the HPGD gene in chromosome 4q34.

Sexual dysfunction in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Background/aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of systemic sclerosis (SSc) on quality of life and sexual function in female patients.

Materials And Methods: The study included 30 sexually active female patients with SSc and 30 healthy control subjects. For all participants in both the patient and control groups, the female sexual index and SF-36 forms were completed and a detailed medical and sexual history was taken.

Current antiviral practice and course of Hepatitis B virus infection in inflammatory arthritis: a multicentric observational study (A + HBV study).

Objective: The reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a well-known event in hepatitis B surface antigen (HbsAg)-positive patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy. The objective of this study was to assess the antiviral practice and course of HBV infection in inflammatory arthritis.

Material And Methods: Nineteen rheumatology centers participated in this retrospective study.

Association between single nucleotide polymorphisms in prospective genes and susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis and inflammatory bowel disease in a single centre in Turkey.

Background/aims: To establish the prevalence of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1), IL-23 receptor (IL-23R), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT-3) and Janus kinase 2 (JAK-2) in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in a Turkish population.

Materials And Methods: A total of 562 subjects who presented at the Ankara University internal medicine departments of rheumatology and gastroenterology outpatient clinics were recruited in this study, including 365 patients with AS, 197 patients with IBD and 230 healthy controls. ERAP1, IL-23R, STAT-3 and JAK-2) were genotyped in competitive allele-specific polymerase chain reactions.

Anti-interleukin-1 treatment in 26 patients with refractory familial mediterranean fever.

Objective: To investigate the effect of anti-interleukin-1 (anti-IL-1) treatment on the frequency and severity of attacks and other disease-related clinical parameters and to evaluate the adverse effects associated with anti-IL-1 treatment in 26 patients with refractory familial mediterranean fever (FMF).

Methods: The study included 26 FMF patients followed up in our centre using colchicine for 4 months to 30 years. The treatment was switched to anti-IL-1 treatment for various reasons; 20 cases were resistant to colchicine, 8 were intolerant to colchicine, and 3 had prolonged arthritis under colchicine.

Lack of the Association of the PTPN22 C1858T Gene Polymorphism With Susceptibility to Familial Mediterranean Fever.

Objectives: This study aims to investigate whether the protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 22 (PTPN22) C1858T gene polymorphism plays a role in the pathogenesis of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) through T-lymphocyte activation.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a case-control study with 180 FMF patients (68 males, 112 females; mean age 38.2±1.

Response rate of initial conventional treatments, disease course, and related factors of patients with adult-onset Still's disease: Data from a large multicenter cohort.

Background: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a rare condition, and treatment choices are frequently dependent on expert opinions. The objectives of the present study were to assess treatment modalities, disease course, and the factors influencing the outcome of patients with AOSD.

Methods: A multicenter study was used to reach sufficient patient numbers.

Association of serum KL-6 levels with interstitial lung disease in patients with connective tissue disease: a cross-sectional study.

It was aimed to evaluate KL-6 glycoprotein levels to determine if it may be a diagnostic marker for the connective tissue diseases (CTDs) predicting CTD-related interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) (CTD-ILD) development and to examine if there was a difference between patients and healthy controls. The study included 113 patients with CTD (45 CTD without lung involvement, 68 CTD-ILD) and 45 healthy control subjects. KL-6 glycoprotein levels were analyzed with ELISA in patients and the control group.

Neutrophilic Alveolitis and High Serum Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide Level may be Indicators of Pulmonary Functional Impairment in Connective Tissue Disorders.

Objectives: This study aims to assess the role of several diagnostic tests and tools, immune markers, and the association between serum pro-brain natriuretic peptide levels and other parameters in patients with collagen tissue disorders with pulmonary involvement.

Patients And Methods: In this prospective study, 62 patients (17 males, 45 females; mean age 58.1±13.

Retro-orbital granuloma associated with granulomatosis with polyangiitis: a series of nine cases.

Retro-orbital granuloma is a rare and devastating component of granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA). Current medical treatment protocols are falling short, and outcomes are poor. The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency, clinical features, and treatment outcomes of retro-orbital granuloma in patients with GPA.

Treatment resistant severe digital ischemia associated with antiphospholipid syndrome in a male patient with systemic sclerosis.

We report the case of a male patient with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (SSc) that was complicated with severe digital ischemia, resistant to medical treatment. Due to the lack of treatment response, further laboratory and imaging studies were conducted. Findings were compatible with antiphospholipid syndrome and oral warfarin was added to the treatment regimen.

A rare but serious manifestation of Behçet's disease: intracardiac thrombus in 22 patients.

Objectives: Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic, multisystemic disorder characterised by recurrent oral aphtous ulcers, genital ulcers and ocular inflammation. Vasculitis and thrombotic events are the most important causes of mortality. Vena cava thrombosis, pulmonary artery aneurysms, Budd-Chiari syndrome, peripheral artery aneurysms, dural sinus thrombosis and abdominal aorta aneurysms are the other less common vascular manifestations of BD.

Pulmonary arterial hypertension and systemic sclerosis relation: a single centre experience.

Aim: In systemic sclerosis (SSc), this single-centre study aimed to define the frequency and association of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), occurring either alone in SSc-PAH or together with interstitial lung disease (ILD-PH).

Material-methods: SSc cases between the years 1990-2011 were reviewed, retrospectively. Patients' clinical, laboratory findings, Modified Rodnan Skin Score and Medsger score, 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), carbon monoxide diffusion test (DLCO), echocardiography, thorax HRCT, and right heart catheterisation findings were recorded.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cell microchimerism in Turkish female patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: To investigate microchimerism (Mc) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) taken from female patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and healthy females. We also intended to research the association between Mc and the clinical subsets.

Methods: This study included 50 females with lcSSc, 30 females with dcSSc and 40 healthy females.

Comparison of different glomerular filtration methods in the elderly: which formula provides better estimates?

Objectives: Technetium-99m diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid ((99m)Tc-DTPA) is an ideal radioisotopic method having a high correlation with inulin clearance for the determination of glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Different formulas like creatinine clearance (CrCl) in 24 h urine samples, Cockroft-Gault formula (CGF), and modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) are being used to come up with an estimate. In this study, we compared (99m)Tc-DTPA with the formulas mentioned above in an attempt to best identify the method that would yield the nearly ideal GFR estimates in the elderly.

Plasma paraoxonase activity in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Background & Objective: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterized vascular damage and fibrosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relation between systemic sclerosis and paraoxonase which is an antioxidant enzyme on the HDL.

Methods: Twenty nine patients with SSc and 16 healthy subjects (control group) participated in the study.

Malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels in erythrocytes from patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in the erythrocytes from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Subjects And Methods: Twenty-nine patients diagnosed as having SSc and 16 volunteer healthy subjects (as control group) participated in the study. Fasting blood samples were obtained from the patients and healthy subjects in anticoagulated tubes (with EDTA), and the erythrocytes were separated.

Lupus mastitis is not a surgical disease.

A 23-year-old woman with a 2-year history of discoid lupus (SLE) presented with a right lateral upper quadrant breast mass. Physical examination revealed a 5 cm irregular, hard lesion suggestive of a breast malignancy. Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy of the mass confirmed the diagnosis as lupus mastitis.

Effects of rheumatoid factor isotypes on disease activity and severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a comparative study.

The value of rheumatoid factor (RF) isotypes for assessing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) remains debatable. In this study, we have examined the relationships between RF isotypes and disease activity and severity in RA patients. Sixty-two patients with RA, 48 women and 14 men, were studied.

Serum-soluble Fas antigen level in patients with allergic rhinitis: its relation to specific immunotherapy.

There have been conflicting reports on the relationship between Fas/Fas ligand-mediated apoptosis and allergic response. Specific immunotherapy (SIT) is widely used for treatment of allergic diseases. It has long been apparent that SIT results in a reduction in antigen-specific lymphoproliferation, but it is unclear by what mechanism T-cell responses are inhibited by SIT in vivo.

A multicenter study of patients with adult-onset Still's disease compared with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) has often been regarded as the adult spectrum of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA). The present study aims to compare the clinical and laboratory features, the disease course and the response to treatment in patients having AOSD with those having sJIA. Retrospective review of all available data that were filled out by adult and paediatric rheumatologists from six centers using a standard data extraction form was performed.