Coronary artery calcification progression and renal involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: a longitudinal cohort study.

To investigate if progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is associated with renal and traditional cardiovascular risk factors as well as incidence of myocardial infarctions. CAC progression was evaluated by cardiac computed tomography (CT) at baseline and after 5 years. Multivariable Poisson regression was applied to investigate associations between CAC progression and baseline values for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, CAC, SLE disease duration, lupus nephritis, and renal function.

Effects of acute hydration changes on cardiovascular magnetic resonance native T1 and T2 mapping.

Changes in hydration status may affect myocardial native T1 and T2 values and influence the clinical interpretation. We aimed to assess the impact of acute preload augmentation on native T1 and T2. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) native T1 and T2 mapping were performed twice on the same day in 20 healthy participants before and after an acute preload augmentation by a 2-liter intravenous infusion of isotonic sodium chloride (0.

Migraine in the multiple sclerosis prodrome: a prospective nationwide cohort study in pregnant women.

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an increased risk of migraine. However, little is known about migraine and other headaches during the prodromal phase (before MS symptom onset). Our objective was to study the risk of migraine in women with MS before MS onset.

The recurrence of disease activity after ocrelizumab discontinuation in multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: Ocrelizumab (OCR) is a highly effective treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), and B cell repopulation profiles suggest that it might be used as an immune reconstitution therapy. However, data on disease recurrence after stopping treatment with OCR are scarce. Our objective was to evaluate the recurrence of disease activity after OCR discontinuation.

Hospitalisations and humoral COVID-19 vaccine response in vaccinated rituximab-treated multiple sclerosis patients.

Background: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) treated with anti-CD20 therapies such as rituximab may have increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease. Vaccination induces protective immunity, but humoral vaccine response is known to be attenuated in rituximab-treated MS-patients-patients, which has indicated a need for real world data on severe morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 after vaccination.

Methods: Rituximab-treated patients treated at Haukeland University Hospital were identified through the National MS Registry and invited to participate in the study by giving a consent and providing a blood sample 3 weeks or later after ordinary COVID-19- vaccination, i.

Ambulance professionals' experiences of teamwork in the context of a team training programme - a qualitative study.

Background: Teamwork in the context of ambulance services exhibits unique characteristics, as this environment involves a small core team that must adapt to a dynamic team structure that involves health care professionals and emergency services. It is essential to acquire a deeper understanding of how ambulance teams operate. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the experiences of ambulance professionals with teamwork and how they were influenced by the implementation of a team training programme.

Natalizumab promotes anti-inflammatory and repair effects in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory and degenerative disease of the central nervous system leading to demyelination and axonal loss. Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) is commonly treated by anti-inflammatory drugs, where one of the most effective drugs to date is the monoclonal antibody natalizumab.

Methods: The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome was analyzed in 56 patients with RRMS before and after natalizumab treatment, using label-free mass spectrometry and a subset of the changed proteins were verified by parallel reaction monitoring in a new cohort of 20 patients, confirming the majority of observed changes.

Antiviral therapy with tenofovir in MS.

Infection by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is implicated as the leading cause of multiple sclerosis (MS). We have previously published a case description of a person with MS (pwMS) who was also HIV positive and treated with a combination of antiretrovirals (ART) containing tenofovir, a potent inhibitor of EBV replication. In the years following this publication, the patient had no new relapses, even though she did not use any MS disease-modifying therapy for nearly five years.

Increasing age of multiple sclerosis onset from 1920 to 2022: a population-based study.

Objective: To study the age at onset of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) during the past century.

Methods: This is a population-based cohort study of persons diagnosed with RRMS in Hordaland, Møre, and Romsdal counties, Western Norway, from 1920 to 2022. Individual patient data were available and assessed from previously conducted prevalence and incidence studies in addition to hospital records up until October 31, 2022.

The Influence of Food Intake and Preload Augmentation on Cardiac Functional Parameters: A Study Using Both Cardiac Magnetic Resonance and Echocardiography.

(1) Background: To investigate how food intake and preload augmentation affect the cardiac output (CO) and volumes of the left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) assessed using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE). (2) Methods: Eighty-two subjects with ( = 40) and without ( = 42) cardiac disease were assessed using both CMR and TTE immediately before and after a fast infusion of 2 L isotonic saline. Half of the population had a meal during saline infusion (food/fluid), and the other half were kept fasting (fasting/fluid).

Myocardial fibrosis associates with lupus anticoagulant in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that carries increased risk of cardiovascular disease; however, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms remain poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and degree of myocardial fibrosis in SLE patients and associated disease characteristics. Forty-nine SLE patients (89% female, mean age 52 ± 13 years, median disease duration 19 (11-25) years) and 79 sex-and age-matched healthy controls were included.

Humoral response to Epstein-Barr virus in patients with multiple sclerosis treated with B cell depletion therapy.

Background: B cell depletion therapy is highly effective in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). However, the precise underlying mechanisms of action for its biological effects in MS have still not been clarified. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a known risk factor for MS and seems to be a prerequisite for disease development.

Assessing decisional conflict and challenges in decision-making among perinatal women using or considering using antidepressants during pregnancy-a mixed-methods study.

This study aims to investigate decisional conflict and elucidate challenges in decision-making among perinatal women using or considering using antidepressant (AD) during pregnancy. A sequential, mixed-methods study was employed among pregnant and postnatal women in Norway who had been offered ADs in the last 5 years. Quantitative data were obtained through an electronic questionnaire.

Microstructural changes precede depression in patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Background: Multiple Sclerosis lesions in the brain and spinal cord can lead to different symptoms, including cognitive and mood changes. In this study we explore the temporal relationship between early microstructural changes in subcortical volumes and cognitive and emotional function in a longitudinal cohort study of patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Methods: In vivo imaging in forty-six patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis was performed annually over 3 years magnetic resonance imaging.

Predictors of hospitalization due to infection in rituximab-treated MS patients.

Background: Rituximab is extensively used off-label to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), and long-term vigilance for adverse events is needed. This study was conducted to determine frequencies and predictors of hematological adverse events, including hypogammaglobulinemia, severe lymphopenia, neutropenia, and infections leading to hospitalization.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included all patients with MS initiating rituximab treatment at Haukeland University Hospital between January 1, 2017, and July 1, 2021.

Interferon β1a treatment does not influence serum Epstein-Barr virus antibodies in patients with multiple sclerosis.

There is increasing evidence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) being conditional in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis and influential for disease activity. Interferon-beta (IFNβ) is a cytokine with antiviral effects used to treat MS, in which a possible antiviral effect against EBV has been questioned. In this study, we investigated the effect of IFNβ-1a treatment on serum EBV antibody levels in 84 patients with relapsing-remitting MS.

Team training program's impact on medication administration, teamwork and patient safety culture in an ambulance service (TEAM-AMB): a longitudinal multimethod study protocol.

Introduction: Medication administration errors (MAEs) have the potential for significant patient harm, and the frequency of MAEs in the ambulance services is not well known. Effective teamwork is paramount for providing safe and effective patient care, especially in a time-sensitive, high-risk environment such as the ambulance services. Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is an evidence-based team training programme that, to our knowledge, has not been studied in the ambulance services previously.

Brief international cognitive assessment for MS (BICAMS) and global brain volumes in early stages of MS - A longitudinal correlation study.

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in patients with multiple sclerosis, even in the early stages of the disease. The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for multiple sclerosis (BICAMS) is a short screening tool developed to assess cognitive function in everyday clinical practice.

Objective: To investigate associations between volumetric brain measures derived from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination and performance on BICAMS subtests in early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Cancer related mortality in multiple sclerosis. A population based cohort study.

Background: Cancer is a major cause of death, but how cancer influences mortality risk in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is unclear.

Objectives: Determine all-cause mortality and mortality following a cancer diagnosis among MS patients compared with matched population controls.

Methods: Norwegian MS patients born 1930 - 1979 (n= 6950) followed-up 1953 - 2016, were matched with 37 922 controls.

Breastfeeding and treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Monoclonal antibody therapy is effective for multiple sclerosis, and only small amounts of antibodies are transferred to breast milk. Even though the approved product descriptions advise against breastfeeding during medicinal treatment, several of the most effective MS drugs are compatible with breastfeeding.

Vagus nerve stimulation as a novel treatment for systemic lupus erythematous: study protocol for a randomised, parallel-group, sham-controlled investigator-initiated clinical trial, the SLE-VNS study.

Introduction: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease. SLE is treated with immunosuppressants with suboptimal efficacy and high risk of serious side effects. Patients with SLE have increased risk of mortality, organ damage and debilitating treatment-resistant fatigue.