First Case of TNF-Receptor-Associated Autoinflammatory Syndrome (TRAPS) in Bulgaria.

TRAPS is a very rare disease with an estimated prevalence of about one per million. We present a 53-year-old patient from Bulgaria. The clinical features of the disease are periodic fever, arthralgia, myalgia, rash, abdominal pain and hepatosplenomegaly.

Adherence to bisphosphonate therapy in postmenopausal osteoporotic women.

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a metabolic bone disease caused by a decrease in the bone mineral density. It is a major public health threat as it weakens bones, especially those in the wrist, spine, or hip, and causes them to break easily.

Aim: The study aimed to find how strictly postmenopausal women with osteoporosis adhere to a long-term therapy with bisphosphonates.

Correlations between arthroscopic findings and synovial membrane histology in patients with rheumatoid synovitis of the knee joint.

Unlabelled: Correlation and agreement between the diagnostic results of arthroscopic and histological examinations of the synovial membrane in rheumatoid synovitis of the knee joint have been discussed in small number of studies with contradictory conclusions.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the correlation between the arthroscopic characteristics and histology of the synovial membrane in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and synovitis of the knee joint.

Methods: Sixty-four arthroscopies of the knee joint with guided multiple synovial biopsies were performed in patients with rheumatoid synovitis.

Minor and major complications of arthroscopic synovectomy of the knee joint performed by rheumatologist.

Unlabelled: The aim of the study was to analyze the type and incidence of major and minor complications resulting from arthroscopy with arthroscopic synovectomy of the knee joint performed by rheumatologist in different rheumatological diseases.

Methods: In a prospective study the incidence of complications in arthroscopic subtotal synovectomy with subsequent tidal flow lavage was analyzed in 201 rheumatic patients. The arthroscopic synovectomies were performed by one team of rheumatologists in the operation room of the University Clinic of Rheumatology in the town of Plovdiv for a period of 8-9 years.

Leflunomide in the treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis.

Unlabelled: Leflunomide (LFL) is a modern immunomodulating medication belonging to the group of drugs that favourably affect the course of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We present in this study the results of an open prospective trial on the effectiveness and side effects of LFL in clinically followed up patients with active RA refractory to other disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDS). At the onset of treatment with LFL the patients had at least 8 swollen and tender joints, the disease severity being assessed by both patients and physicians as over 3 cm VAS.