Dissociation between 2-[F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission computed tomography, ultrasound and clinical assessments in patients with non-severe rheumatoid arthritis, including remission.

Background: Inflammation of patients joints with severe disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has already been visualized and quantified by 2-[F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission computed tomography ([F] FDG PET/CT), but little is known about the metabolic status and its relationship with clinical and ultrasonography (US) metrology in patients with low/moderate activity or in remission.

Methods: Clinical assessments [based on 28-joint disease activity score (DAS-CRP) and Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)], [F] FDG PET/CT, US and X-ray were performed on 63 RA patients classified into remission or low/moderate or severe disease activity groups. PET/CT was visually and then semi-quantitatively analysed by determining the standardized uptake value (SUV) of positive joints.

[Remarkable medical advances in rheumatology : may be…].

The development of new drugs is a significant activity in a university hospital that favors access to therapeutic novelties to patients. Rheumatology, whose drug armamentarium was poor in the 1980s, has benefited from the huge progresses of immunology in the 1980-1990s, allowing a therapeutic revolution in whom the academic hospital of Liège (CHU Liège) has been strongly implicated. First protocols with anti-TNF-? monoclonal antibodies have been applied in 1997.

[Fifteen years of use of anti-TNF antibodies in moderate to severe Crohn's disease: how to make the best of this experience].

After fifteen years of use, the anti-TNF antibodies have become the corner stone of the treatment of moderate and severe Crohn's disease. The skill acquired over the years through experimental trials and clinical experience leads to increased therapeutic efficacy and minimized risks. These antibodies are introduced increasingly earlier in Crohn's disease as well as in a broader range of patients, aiming at changing the natural history of the diseases by avoiding the development of intestinal tissue damage and complications.

[Innovative therapies in inflammatory bowel disease at the CHU].

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are frequent illnesses in western countries. They have a dramatic impact on the health-related quality of life. The new biological treatments developed for these diseases are potentially very effective, but are also expensive and may have significant side effects.