Comparative analyses of muscle MRI and muscular function in anti-synthetase syndrome patients and matched controls: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of thigh muscles is increasingly used to assess disease activity and damage extent in chronic myositis, but the validity of the findings is not clear. Here, the primary aim was to compare thigh MRI findings in patients having chronic myositis associated with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS) and in matched healthy controls.

Methods: Cross-sectional analyses of thigh muscle MRI, muscular function and creatinine kinase (CK) were performed in 68 ASS patients (median disease duration 71 months) and 67 controls matched for age and gender.

Long-term experience with rituximab in anti-synthetase syndrome-related interstitial lung disease.

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of rituximab (Rtx) treatment in patients with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASS) and severe interstitial lung disease (ILD).

Methods: Patients with severe ILD and >12 months follow-up post-Rtx were identified from the Oslo University Hospital ASS cohort (n = 112). Clinical data, including pulmonary function tests (PFTs), were retrospectively collected from medical reports.

Long-term follow-up of sporadic inclusion body myositis treated with intravenous immunoglobulin: a retrospective study of 16 patients.

Objectives: Previous studies of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment in sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) have yielded conflicting results. Here, we have undertaken a retrospective assessment of the long-term effects of IVIG in our sIBM cohort.

Methods: Sixteen sIBM patients, treated with a mean of 10 IVIG infusions and followed up for a mean period of 23 months, were identified.