Correlation between angiotensin-converting-enzyme 2 gene polymorphisms and systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a disease with cardiovascular impairment and polymorphisms of the gene coding of angiotensin-converting-enzyme 2 (ACE2) may account for its development. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms of ACE2 (C>G rs879922, G>A rs2285666 and A>G rs1978124) were found to increase the risk for development of arterial hypertension (AH) and cardiovascular (CVS) diseases in different ethnicities. We investigated associations of polymorphisms rs879922, rs2285666 and rs1978124 with the development of SSc.

Role of short courses on nailfold capillaroscopy in obtaining abilities for the identification of microvasculopathy in patients with Raynaud's phenomenon.

Introduction: An early distinction between "normal" and "abnormal" capillaroscopic pattern during the first visit to a dermatologist has a crucial significance for a diagnostic management of Raynaud's phenomenon (RP). There exists a question about the level of expertise sufficient to evaluate the microcirculation.

Aim: To evaluate the utility of short courses on NFC among dermatologists and medical students in obtaining sufficient abilities for the identification of microvasculopathy in patients with RP using videocapillaroscope and handheld dermoscope.

Clinical assessment of patients with systemic sclerosis: is there a place for thermography?

Recurrent changes of temperature and persistence of cooling along fingers at the room temperature make hands the most frequent region of interest for thermography in systemic sclerosis (SSc). The aim of this study was to evaluate dependance of temperature in hands on a subtype of the disease, immune profile of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and lung involvement. There were 29 patients with limited cutaneous involvement (lcSSc) and 10 patients with diffuse cutaneous disease (dcSSc) enrolled for the study.

Clinical manifestations of Whipple's disease mimicking rheumatic disorders.

Whipple's disease is a rare, chronic, systemic disorder caused by infection. The most common symptoms are weight loss, arthralgia, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Other organ involvement can also occur in the patients.

Osteitis in the Course of Pyodema Gangrenosum. Case Raport.

We present the case of a male patient admitted to the Department of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Traumatology, Medical University of Silesia (MUS) in Katowice, due to a right hindfoot abscess with calcaneal infiltration and pain in the forehead and the back, with evidence of local inflammation. The patient had a history of ulcerative colitis and sclerosing cholangitis was suspected. During the hospital stay, the patient underwent calcaneal CT, surgery (resection of an inflammatory focus) and MRI of the thoracic and lumbosacral spine, which revealed inflamed spinous processes of the Th10, Th11 and Th12 vertebrae.

Serum level of the circulating angiogenesis inhibitor endostatin in patients with hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism.

Serum level of endostatin, a natural angiogenesis inhibitor, was measured in 12 patients with hyperthyroidism and 9 patients with hypothyroidism. Control values were obtained from 12 healthy individuals. Hyperthyroidism was shown to be associated with an increased level of endostatin and hypothyroidism with a decreased endostatin level.