Are there differences in methotrexate kinetics between responding and nonresponding patients with rheumatoid arthritis?

Objective And Study Design: The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence of a correlation between methotrexate pharmacokinetics and clinical efficacy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Patients And Methods: The study was carried out in 29 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The patients received intramuscular methotrexate (MTX) 7.

Superiority of alfacalcidol compared to vitamin D plus calcium in lumbar bone mineral density in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

In a randomized multicenter, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel group study a comparison of the efficacy and safety of 1 microg alfacalcidol to 880 IU vitamin D plus calcium carbonate (1 g calcium) once daily per os was performed on 148 postmenopausal osteoporotic Caucasian patients with normal vitamin D serum levels for 18 months. Bone mineral density (BMD) was measured at baseline, 12 and 18 months. Safety parameters were followed during the entire study period.

Acromegalic axial arthropathy: a clinical case-control study.

Arthropathy is the major cause of morbidity in acromegaly. To feature the spinal involvement, 54 patients with active acromegaly (27 men, 27 women; age range, 21-69 yr) and 54 sex-, age-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this observational analytical prospective case-control study. A questionnaire to describe onset, duration, and severity of articular symptoms; rheumatological examination, including vertebral and chest mobility, Schober test, thorax expansion, and axial radiological study; and IGF-I, GH, insulin, and glucose level measurement (baseline and after an oral glucose tolerance test) was used to investigate the prevalence of arthropathy and correlate these findings with hormonal parameters.

Is the involvement of the distal interphalangeal joint in psoriatic patients related to nail psoriasis?

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between onychopathy and distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint involvement in psoriatic patients. Twenty-five consecutive unselected, unrelated patients with psoriatic onychopathy and 25 consecutive unselected, unrelated patients with psoriatic arthritis without onychopathy, were enrolled in the study. X-ray films of the hands were taken to identify DIP arthritic involvement and/or bone changes of the distal phalanx, which were categorized into five classes (0: no lesions; 1: tuftal minimal erosions; 2: tuftal bone resorption; 3: tuftal periosteal osteitis; 4: overlap of erosive and osteitic changes).

Clinical and genetic aspects of psoriatic arthritis "sine psoriasis".

Objective: To characterize the clinical pattern of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) sine psoriasis.

Methods: Fifty-seven patients (31 men, 26 women, mean age 46.32 +/- 14.

[New procedures for improving case sheets editing].

Case sheets are very important instruments for improving health care quality in hospitals. Despite their importance, they are very seldom used and filled in the right way. The study is based on an attempt to optimise case sheets editing; it implies multiple steps: 1.

[Longitudinal study on osteoarthritis and bone metabolism].

Objective: The relationship between Osteoarthritis (OA) and Osteoporosis (OP) is not well defined due to lacking in longitudinal data, mainly regarding correlations between biochemical factors and OA incidence. Aim of this paper was to investigate the predictive value for OA incidence of bone mass variations and of selected biochemical markers in healthy women participating in a population-based longitudinal study carried out in Naples (Italy).

Subjects And Methods: High completion rate (85.

[Osteoarticular scintigraphy in comparison with clinical evidence].

Bone scintigraphy is a technique which is often resorted to in diagnostic rheumatology. There are few data on the effective relevance of bone scintigraphy in the evaluation of chronic inflammatory diseases of the joints. The aim of this study was to compare the results of bone scintigraphy with clinical evidence in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.

Dietary calcium intake and serum vitamin D are major determinants of bone mass variations in women. A longitudinal study.

Background And Aims: Bone mineral density (BMD) is one of the main determinants in the pathogenesis of fractures. However, data on factors predicting longitudinal variations in BMD are still limited and incomplete. Such data would be of great importance in order to better focus prevention strategies in both the clinical setting and at the population level.

Bone mineral density and bone markers in hypogonadotropic and hypergonadotropic hypogonadal men after prolonged testosterone treatment.

After prolonged treatment (76.4+/-10 and 70.1+/-12.

Intramuscular clodronate in nonresponders to oral alendronate therapy for osteoporosis.

Objective: Oral alendronate is effective in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and in reducing fracture incidence. However, a large proportion of patients under treatment do not show significant changes in BMD, or even bone loss. Incorrect administration, low intestinal absorption, and poor compliance are among factors that may account for this effect.

Bone mineral density in premenopausal women receiving levothyroxine suppressive therapy.

Osteoporosis is a well-known complication of thyrotoxicosis. Prolonged subclinical hyperthyroidism due to L-thyroxine treatment has been associated with reduced bone mass and thus with the potential risk of premature development of osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a chronic L-thyroxine suppressive treatment on bone mineral density (BMD) in a group of premenopausal women.

Peripheral body fat has a protective role on bone mineral density in elderly women.

Objectives: To determine whether bone mineral density is lower in women living in homes for the elderly as compared to free dwelling control subjects, and to investigate factors affecting possible differences. This is the first study with this objective as the primary aim.

Design: Case-control study.

[Modifications in diagnosis and therapy of osteoporosis after bone densitometry].

The cost-benefit ratio of diagnostic procedures has become a major problem: in particular, the expense of computerized bone mineral densitometry for osteoporosis diagnosis has brought this issue to public attention. To avoid a procedure considered costly, non-specialists often rely on standard radiography alone for diagnosis. In this study, we evaluated the percent of cases in which densitometry modified diagnosis and therapy based solely on radiographic findings.

Reversibility of joint thickening in acromegalic patients: an ultrasonography study.

Axial and peripheral arthropathy affects the majority of patients with acromegaly, being a leading cause of morbidity and functional disability. Treatment with octreotide (OCT) improves symptoms and signs of acromegalic arthropathy, but objective detection of structural changes in bone and cartilage has not been reported to date. This open prospective study was designed to evaluate the effect of a long term treatment with OCT on acromegalic arthropathy assessed by ultrasonography examination.

Epidemiology of osteoporosis in women in southern Italy.

Studies on the distribution of bone mineral density (BMD) values in different age groups and in different populations are valuable for understanding the causes of the appreciable geographical variability in fracture incidence. We studied a population of southern Italy in an area where the incidence of hip fracture had been previously estimated. With a completion rate of 85%, we recruited a group of 264 women between 45 and 79 years of age, representative of non-institutionalized and active women in the population, and measured bone density both at the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and at the right femoral neck using a dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) system.

Randomized trial of effect of cyclical etidronate in the prevention of corticosteroid-induced bone loss. Ciblos Study Group.

Osteoporosis is a well-recognized adverse effect of corticosteroid therapy. This study aimed to investigate the effect of etidronate, intermittent cyclical therapy, in the prevention of corticosteroid-induced bone loss. Patients with various medical conditions starting high-dose corticosteroid therapy were enrolled in the study.

Efficacy and tolerability of ketoprofen 200 mg controlled-release cps vs indomethacin 50 mg cps in patients with symptomatic hip osteoarthritis. A multicentre study.

Background: An open-label, randomised, multicentre study was carried out to compare the efficacy and tolerability of indomethacin capsules and ketoprofen controlled-release capsules in the symptomatic treatment of coxarthrosis.

Materials And Methods: 113 out-patients were enrolled: 57 were assigned to receive indomethacin 50 mg twice daily and 56 ketoprofen 200 mg once daily for 4 weeks.

Results: Indomethacin and ketoprofen proved equally effective in relieving osteoarticular pain and stiffness and in improving the quality of life of patients.

The classification of psoriatic arthritis: what will happen in the future?

Some patients with psoriasis have articular involvement that falls within the spectrum of seronegative spondyloarthropathies. This form of arthritis has been classified by Moll and Wright into five clinical subsets. Recently this classification has been contested.

The arthritis of coeliac disease: prevalence and pattern in 200 adult patients.

Arthritis has often been alluded to as an extra-intestinal clinical manifestation of coeliac disease, but definitive data regarding its prevalence are still lacking. We therefore evaluated the overall prevalence of articular involvement in 200 consecutive adult coeliac patients attending routine gastroenterology follow-up and in 40 controls, and determined whether the prevalence and pattern of articular involvement varied according to the dietary status. An arthritis was present in 26% of patients and in 7.

Slow progression of joint damage in early rheumatoid arthritis treated with cyclosporin A.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of low-dose cyclosporin A (CsA) to control radiologic disease progression, and to assess the clinical efficacy and tolerability of CsA, compared with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), in patients with early active rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: In this long-term, multicenter, prospective, open, blinded end point, randomized trial, 361 consenting patients with early (<4 years since diagnosis) active RA were enrolled. Of the eligible patients, 167 were treated with CsA at 3 mg/kg/day, and 173 with DMARDs.

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH): a retrospective analysis.

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a skeletal disease characterized by ligamentous ossification of the anterolateral side of the spine. The radiographs of the spine of 69 patients (22 males, 47 females, mean age 64.97 +/- 8.