[Knee radiosynovectomy with Y90 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: our experiences].

In this study we resume the results of a twenty year-long experience with knee radiosynoviorthesis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. We treated 840 patients; the total of treated knees was 1030; from our experience it arises that best and fastest results come from patients in stage I and higher; improvement is between 1st and 3rd year from first treatment in all patients considered. Best improvements occur in less severe patients; in most severe patients they last longer in time.

[Automation and computerization of the articular and Ritchie's indexes calculation].

Compilation and calculation of some articular indexes is time consuming. Therefore the authors present a data base for automatic compilation and calculation of articular and Ritchie's indexes. Moreover the program allows to determine the number of the swollen and painful joints.

[Computerized acquisition and elaboration of clinical data in Rheumatology during ten years: state of art and prospectives].

The well known complexity to collect the clinical data of patients and in particular in the area of rheumatology push us to develop a computerized clinical chart in order to facilitate the classification, evaluation and monitoring of these patients. The proposed computerized clinical chart is easy to use but at the same time is a very potent tool that allow the clinicians to organize the classic rheumatological pathologies as well as the more complexes or even rare. The proposed clinical chart is based on a relational database (FileMaker Pro 5.

[Specific inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2): current knowledge and perspectives].

The Authors summarize the current knowledge on a new class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), the coxib (celecoxib and rofecoxib), in the treatment of rheumatic diseases. Celecoxib and rofecoxib are selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors which possess the same anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities, but a better gastric tolerability compared to the non-selective COX-1 and COX-2 inhibitors. The Authors also report other possible therapeutic effects of these NSADIs as evidenced by the more recent data of the literature.

A multicenter cross sectional study on bone mineral density in rheumatoid arthritis. Italian Study Group on Bone Mass in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Objective: To determine the frequency of osteoporosis in a large cohort of women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to investigate the main determinants of bone mineral density (BMD) and risk factors for vertebral fractures in this population.

Methods: We recruited 925 consecutive female patients with RA at 21 Rheumatology Centers in Italy. For each patient pre-registered demographic, disease, and treatment-related variables were collected.

[Peripheral neuropathy with mixed cryoglobulinemia].

Among 54 patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia a peripheral neuropathy was demonstrated in 23 patients (42.6%). Five patients had a secondary form while the majority (18) had essential cryoglobulinemia.

Long-term outcome with gold thiosulphate and tiopronin in 200 rheumatoid patients.

Two hundred rheumatoid patients were prospectively studied over a five-year period. One hundred and three received tiopronin (T) and 97 were treated with gold thiosulphate (GTS). At the end of the five-year period, similar percentages of patients dropped out because of lack of efficacy or because of major toxicities.

Morphometric study of salivary glands in primary Sjögren's syndrome.

The relationship between structural changes of the minor salivary glands with age was evaluated by morphometric analysis in twenty patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (prim. SS) (Group I) and in twenty sex and age-matched normal subjects (Group II). No statistically significant differences were found in the acinar tissue, intralobular ducts (ILD) and fibrous tissue between the two Groups.

[Rheumatic polymyalgia and temporal arteritis. Case contribution and bibliographic review].

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a frequent clinical syndrome in the elderly, characterised by morning aching and stiffness in the shoulder and girdle muscles associated with an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate and responsive to low-dose corticosteroid therapy. PMR may be associated with temporal arteritis (AT), a systemic granulomatous vasculitis predominantly affecting branches of the carotid artery in patients over the age of 50. Recent studies suggest an immunological pathogenesis for PMR and TA.

Relationship between areas of popliteal cysts and radiological damage in rheumatoid arthritis and in osteoarthritis.

Fifty-five patients, (30 Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and 25 Osteoarthritis (OA], with knee synovial effusion and popliteal cysts, visualized through arthrograms, were studied. A relationship was sought between radiological findings and area of the cysts, measured through a millimeter grid. Ten radiological parameters were graded and summed up to obtain a "total knee score".

Serum IgA levels and ANA behaviour in rheumatoid patients with and without toxicity to remission-inducing drugs.

IgA levels and ANA behaviour were studied in twenty-five patients suffering from toxicity to remission-inducing drugs (Tiopronin or Gold thiosulphate) and in thirty-two without any evidence of toxicity. A comparable number of patients with low IgA levels were found in the two groups. ANA test positivity correlated better with the appearance of toxicity, but the low specificity and predictivity hinder its application as a screening parameter.

Toxicity due to remission inducing drugs in rheumatoid arthritis. Association with HLA-B35 and Cw4 antigens.

Twenty-five patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who developed toxicity while taking remission inducing drugs and 30 without toxicity were studied for possible associations with class I and II HLA antigens. A strong association has been found between nephritis and dermatitis due to Tiopronin (a D-Penicillamine like compound) and class I antigens B35-Cw4, and between dermatitis due to gold thiosulphate and B35. Compared to healthy controls a lower DR5 frequency was observed in patients with RA except for the Tiopronin related nephritis group.

Tiopronin-nephropathy: clinical, pathological, immunological and immunogenetic characteristics.

Nine patients who developed proteinuria while on Tiopronin (a D-Penicillamine-like drug) have been studied. Nephrotic syndrome was observed in six cases. Immunologic analysis revealed a high frequency of ANA positivity and RF seronegativity by the time nephropathy appeared.

[Opaque arthrography in the evaluation of gonarthrosis].

The Authors have studied, by means of the arthrographic technique, 24 cases of knee osteoarthrosis in various clinical phases. In the diagnosis of the early phases of the disease, this technique as been helpful in showing alterations, as the widening of the intercartilaginous space, the irregularities of synovial outlines, the enlargement of the normal popliteal space, which common techniques, unusually cannot display. The assay is not needed in the most advanced phases of the disease but it could here as well supply further diagnostic data (i.

Demonstration of articular effusions and popliteal cysts with ultrasound.

Echography has been employed in 10 patients with knee effusions and in two patients with Baker's cysts. In all instances, echography clearly identified the effusions. In four patients, the presence of connective tissue septa were also shown.

Serum and synovial fluid concentrations of alpha2 macroglobulin and alpha2 neuroamino-glycoprotein in rheumatoid arthritis.

The serum and synovial fluid concentrations of alpha2 macroglobulin and alpha2 neuramino glycoprotein of patients with rheumatoid arthritis have been studied. For, both protein fractions have antiprotease activity and inhibit, though to different degrees, many factors concerning inflammation. Even though both fractions have certain activities in common, in rheumatoid arthritis, we neither see a parallel increase nor antagonistic actions in the case of alpha2 macroglobulin and alpha2 neuramino-glycoprotein.

[Use of new osteotropic isotopes in osteoarticular diseases, with special reference to phlogistic arthropathies].

By using an osteotropic complex (99mTc pyrophosphate) scintigraphic and scintiphotographic images were obtained with a view to studying the bone changes in inflammatory arthropathies. In rheumatoid arthritis there is an increase in radioactivity next to affected joints and this phenomenon which seems to contrast with the osteoporosis of the juxta-articular regions is confirmed, since the reduced density that is observed in the radiograms is a result of the lack of equilibrium between bone formation and bone resorption, but only if these two processes are proceeding actively. The "warm" zones, which are very close to the joints, are just as easy to see in relation to inflamed joints as they are in relation to joints in which the inflammation has ceased.