Chronic Inflammatory Arthropathy Preceding Acute Systemic Manifestations of Sarcoidosis: A Possible Overlap of Idiopathic Juvenile Arthritis and Sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease with unknown etiology, marked by T lymphocytes and macrophages agglomeration, which leads to the formation of noncaseating granulomas in the affected tissues. We describe a case of a 40-year-old black patient referred to our service for evaluation of nephrolithiasis and persistent elevation of plasma creatinine. He reported important weight loss, fever episodes, and abdominal and low back intermittent pain in the past 6 months.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of platelet-rich plasma in the bone consolidation of patients submitted to lumbar arthrodesis.

Objective: To determine whether the use of autograft associated with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) increases bone healing in patients undergoing lumbar fusion.

Method: This was a prospective, descriptive, and comparative study, which included 40 patients undergoing lumbar fusion, who were divided into two groups: group I, autograft only, and group II, autograft associated with PRP. After surgery, patients were followed-up on the first, third, and sixth month.

Isolated atrophy of the abductor digiti quinti in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: We aim to discuss the association of isolated atrophy of the abductor digiti quinti muscle in patients with rheumatoid arthritis as well as review the anatomy and imaging findings of this condition on MRI.

Materials And Methods: A consecutive series of 55 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria were recruited. MRI of the clinically dominant feet was performed using a 1.

Discordance between clinical and imaging criteria: assessment by magnetic resonance imaging of the foot of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Evaluation of the correlation between disease activity and joint involvement was assessed by MRI in the clinically dominant foot of patients with RA. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of 55 patients with RA, who were subjected to clinical evaluation and MRI assessment. Imaging of the clinically dominant foot was performed, and both the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28-CRP) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) were measured.

Survival score scales of patients operated with spinal metastases: retrospective application in a Brazilian population.

Spinal cord epidural metastasis (SEM) is a common complication of systemic cancer. Predicting these patient's survival is a key factor to select the proper treatment modality, but the three most used score scales to predict their survival (Tokuhashi revised score, Tomita score and Bauer modified score) were designed in single institutions and their reliability to predict correctly the patient's survival were first tested only in those specific populations. This prognostication issue is addressed in this article, evaluating retrospectively the survival of 17 patients with SEM from a Brazilian general hospital with these score scales.

Bone mineral density evaluation among patients with neuromuscular scoliosis secondary to cerebral palsy.

Objective: To evaluate bone mineral density among patients with neuromuscular scoliosis secondary to quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Methods: This was a descriptive prospective study in which both bone densitometric and anthropometric data were evaluated. The inclusion criteria used were that the patients should present quadriplegic cerebral palsy, be confined to a wheelchair, be between 10 and 20 years of age and present neuromuscular scoliosis.

Skeletal muscle abnormalities in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a progressive disease that is characterized by dyspnea and exercise intolerance. Impairment in skeletal muscle has recently been described in PAH, although the degree to which this impairment is solely determined by the hemodynamic profile remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to verify the association of structural and functional skeletal muscle characteristics with maximum exercise in PAH.

Perforated diverticulitis of the appendix: ultrasonographic diagnosis.

Appendiceal diverticulitis is an uncommon condition, mimicking appendicitis, but with greater risk of perforation and complications. Preoperative diagnosis is rare, but can be achieved by ultrasonography as identification of the diverticulum and classical signs of appendicitis. We report a case of ultrasonographic diagnosis of a perforated appendiceal diverticulitis in an adult male and discuss this condition.

Preaortic iliac confluence (marsupial vena cava): report of 4 cases.

Congenital anomalies of the inferior vena cava (IVC) can represent a difficult for abdominal surgeries, and the radiologist must be aware even of the less common of these anatomical variations. Preaortic iliac venous confluence, also known as marsupial vena cava, is a rare congenital anomaly of the development of the IVC in which the IVC or the left common iliac vein is located anterior to the aortic bifurcation or the right common iliac artery. We report 4 cases of marsupial vena cava detected on multidetector computed tomography examinations in asymptomatic patients and discuss that this congenital anomaly can be recognized more frequently with the use of this new technique based on thinner images.