Publications by authors named "Nilufer Alpay-Kanitez"
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the effectiveness of two common immunosuppressive agents, methotrexate (MTX) and azathioprine (AZA), as first-line treatments for patients with Takayasu's arteritis (TAK), analyzing patient outcomes and safety.
- A total of 301 TAK patients from 10 centers were included; findings revealed similar remission and relapse rates between MTX and AZA, but a significantly higher rate of vascular surgery in the AZA group compared to MTX.
- The study also noted that patients on MTX were more likely to receive lower doses of glucocorticoids post-treatment compared to those on AZA, indicating different management outcomes between the
Article Synopsis
- - The study investigated the occurrence of spondyloarthritis (SpA) features in 350 patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK), finding that 8.8% had additional SpA-related conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or psoriasis.
- - Patients with both TAK and SpA displayed earlier onset of disease symptoms and required more aggressive biological treatments for active vasculitis compared to those with TAK alone.
- - The research highlighted the overlap between TAK and SpA, suggesting a potential link in their pathogenesis, possibly related to an MHC class I allele similar to that seen in spondyloarthritis.
Article Synopsis
- This study evaluated the presence of hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) undergoing biological treatments, using data from a registry in Türkiye.
- The findings revealed high screening rates for HBV (97% in RA and 94.2% in SpA), with varying rates of positive test results for HBV and HCV; older patients with comorbidities were more likely to test positive for HBV.
- The most commonly prescribed biologic treatments included adalimumab and etanercept, with one reported case of HBV reactivation in a patient treated with rituximab and preventative medicine.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers analyzed data from 330 patients diagnosed with GCA, finding that 18.8% experienced relapses during a follow-up period, and only 23.8% were able to stop GC treatment entirely.
- * The study highlighted that a significant portion of patients (66.2%) had at least one indication of damage due to vasculitis, and there were also considerable side effects related to GC treatment.
Article Synopsis
- The study looked at how certain treatments can unexpectedly cause skin problems like paradoxical psoriasis in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA).
- Out of thousands of patients, about 136 had these unexpected skin problems, mostly after taking specific medications, and most patients were switched to new treatments to help.
- The results showed that switching medications usually worked well, and certain groups of patients, like smokers, were impacted differently by these skin reactions.
Objective: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has been resulting in increased hospital occupancy rates. Rheumatic patients cannot still reach to hospitals, or they hesitate about going to a hospital even they are able to reach. We aimed to show the effect of the first wave of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on the treatment of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or spondyloarthritis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Throughout the pandemic, physicians working at the frontlines have embarked on various quests to protect themselves, and many physicians preferred using hydroxychloroquine (HQN) as a prophylactic agent. This study aimed to investigate the reasons leading physicians to use HQN and its effects on them.
Materials And Methods: This study is cross-sectional with a target population of physicians working in pandemic hospitals in Ä°stanbul, Turkey.
Objectives: Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a multi-systemic, autoinflammatory disorder. Several activity scores have been proposed but none of them have been adopted universally. Our aim was to create a clinician-friendly activity scoring system by using simple clinical and laboratory parameters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 pandemic affected the world in many ways. Internal medicine education needed to be shaped according to the requirements of this pandemic. The aim of this study is to understand the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on internal medicine education and evaluate the newly introduced methods for education.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To analyse the clinical and laboratory factors associated with bamboo spine.
Methods: Data of patients fulfilling the 2009 ASAS classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis, registered in the national, multicentre, longitudinal, and observational database of TReasure was analysed. Radiographs were assessed using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiologic Index (BASRI).
Objective: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is one of the preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of MetS on CVD and cumulative organ damage in a multi-center, large cohort of patients with Takayasu arteritis (TAK).
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study involving 192 consecutive TAK patients from seven tertiary rheumatology centers in Turkey.
This study aimed to compare Tuberculin Skin Test (TST) and QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) test in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients scheduled for biological and targeted synthetic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) in a Bacillus Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated population. Adult RA (n = 206) and SpA (n = 392) patients from the TReasure database who had both TST and QFT-GIT prior to initiation of biological and targeted synthetic DMARDs were included in the study. Demographic and disease characteristics along with pre-biologic DMARD and steroid use were recorded.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aimed to examine fetomaternal outcomes in pregnant women in a large Turkish Takayasu arteritis (TAK) cohort and to evaluate the effects of pregnancy on the disease in those patients.
Methods: This is a cohort study involving 296 pregnancies of 112 TAK patients from 8 tertiary rheumatology centers in Turkey. Pregnancies were divided into 2 groups as pre-d (before disease onset) and post-d (after disease onset).
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of TNF inhibitors and tocilizumab (TCZ) in treating Takayasu arteritis in patients who didn't respond to standard immunosuppressive drugs.
- A total of 111 patients participated, receiving various biologic treatments, with similar remission rates and glucocorticoid (GC) reduction between the two treatment groups after follow-up.
- The findings indicate that both TNF inhibitors and TCZ have comparable drug survival rates and outcomes in managing Takayasu arteritis, suggesting that either option is viable for treatment.
We wanted to see how close we could get to our goal of treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) without the use of glucocorticoids (GCs) in the disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) era using real-life data. Established in 2017, the TReasure database is a web-based, prospective, observational cohort for Turkey. As of May 2019, there were 2,690 RA patients recorded as receiving biologic and targeted synthetic DMARDs (bDMARDs and tsDMARDs) therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The course of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been of special concern in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases (IRDs) due to the immune dysregulation that may be associated with these diseases and the medications used for IRDs, that may affect innate immune responses.
Objective: In this cohort study, we aimed to report the disease characteristics and variables associated with COVID-19 outcome among Turkish patients with IRDs.
Methods: Between April and June, 2020, 167 adult IRD patients with COVID-19 were registered from 31 centers in 14 cities in Turkey.
Article Synopsis
- Spondyloarthritis (SpA) encompasses a variety of diseases that can lead to conditions like acute anterior uveitis (AAU), which is a common complication; this study investigates the prevalence and contributing factors of AAU among Turkish SpA patients.
- The research involved examining data from over 4,200 SpA patients, revealing that 11% had experienced at least one episode of uveitis, with higher occurrences linked to factors like older age, smoking, longer disease duration, and specific genetic markers.
- The findings suggest that the presence of uveitis could be significant for diagnosing SpA, indicating a need for patients with uveitis to consult a rheumatologist for further assessment.
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate relapse rates in azathioprine (AZA) maintenance therapy at different doses in Behçet's disease (BD) with venous involvement.
Method: Clinical records of patients who met the diagnostic criteria of International Study Group (ISG) for BD, were diagnosed with venous involvement of BD for at least 6 months and sustained clinical remission with AZA for at least 3 months were analyzed retrospectively. The analysis cohort was divided into 2 groups based on AZA dose (Group A: ≥ 2 mg/kg/d and Group B: <2 mg/kg/d).
Article Synopsis
- Takayasu arteritis is a rare inflammatory disease affecting large arteries and was studied in a large genetic analysis of over 6,600 individuals, revealing significant genetic factors involved.
- Researchers identified specific HLA risk factors and several non-HLA susceptibility genes, including VPS8 and CFL2, that contribute to the disease, with ETS2 highlighted as a potential key gene.
- The study found strong genetic links between Takayasu arteritis and inflammatory bowel disease, suggesting potential therapeutic targets and enhancing understanding of the disease's genetic underpinnings.
Physicians are challenged by the recognition and treatment of older patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this case-control study was to evaluate the retention and safety of conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in older patients with RA.In this observational case-control study, we assessed older patients with RA (≥65 years) who were diagnosed in 3 different rheumatology centers from Turkey.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPolyarthritis is a term used when at least five joints are affected with arthritis. Several different diseases ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to infection diseases can lead to polyarthritis. Anamnesis, physical examination, laboratory findings and imaging methods are important tools to differential diagnosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: We have conducted this study to evaluate clinical and laboratory findings and to gather and evaluate information that would be useful in clinical practice, such as demographics, joint involvement patterns, laboratory anomalies, treatments applied, and responses obtained in patients diagnosed with gout.
Methods: In our study, the demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of 94 patients diagnosed with gout were evaluated. The patients were re-evaluated with regard to their clinical and laboratory findings at the end of the 1 and 3 months, their responses to the treatment were observed, and where necessary, new treatment adjustments were made.