Liver Involvement in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis: Role of Transient Elastography in the Assessment of Hepatic Fibrosis and Steatosis.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare, multisystemic disorder of connective tissue characterized by widespread inflammation, vascular abnormalities, and both skin and visceral organ fibrosis. Tissue fibrosis is the final phase of a complex biological process of immune activation and vascular damage. The aim of the study was to assess hepatic fibrosis and steatosis in SSc patients by transient elastography (TE).

The Role of Lung Ultrasound in SARS-CoV-19 Pneumonia Management.

Purpose: We aimed to assess the role of lung ultrasound (LUS) in the diagnosis and prognosis of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, by comparing it with High Resolution Computed Tomography (HRCT). Patients and methods: All consecutive patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalized in COVID Centers were enrolled. LUS and HRCT were carried out on all patients by expert operators within 48−72 h of admission.

Autonomic nervous system dysfunction correlates with microvascular damage in systemic sclerosis patients.

Objectives: Cardiac autonomic neuropathy is among the known cardiovascular complications of systemic sclerosis and may affect the whole prognosis of the disease. The aim of our study was to assess cardiac autonomic neuropathy prevalence in our cohort of systemic sclerosis patients and compare its main features with clinical and epidemiological data, particularly with the severity of microvascular damage, as detected by nailfold videocapillaroscopy.

Methods: Twenty-six patients with definite systemic sclerosis were consecutively enrolled at our outpatient rheumatology clinic.

The Role of Neuropathy Screening Tools in Patients Affected by Fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia syndrome (sFM) is one of the most common causes of chronic pain. This study aimed to assess the presence of small and large fiber impairment in fibromyalgic patients by applying validated scores used in the screening for diabetic neuropathy. The endpoints for the study were the assessment of neuropathy prevalence in sFM patients using the NerveCheck Master (NCM), the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI), the Diabetic Neuropathy Symptom (DNS) and the Douleur Neuropathique 4 Questions (DN4).

Tailoring biologic therapy for real-world rheumatoid arthritis patients.

: The cornerstone of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) therapy relies on the treat-to-target strategy, which aims at dampening inflammation as soon as possible in order to achieve persistent low disease activity or, ideally, remission, according to validated disease activity measures. Traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) may be chosen in monotherapy or in combination as first-line therapy; in case of an unsatisfactory response after a 3-6-month trial, biologic therapy may be commenced.: Real-life RA patients may present with concomitant comorbidities/complications or be in peculiar physiological states which raise more than one question as to which biotherapy may be more well suited considering the whole clinical picture.

Choosing the most appropriate biologic therapy for Crohn's disease according to concomitant extra-intestinal manifestations, comorbidities, or physiologic conditions.

: approximately half of Crohn's disease (CD) patients suffer from concomitant extra-intestinal manifestations (EIMs). Moreover, CD patients may suffer from comorbidities or have physiologic characteristics that may influence the outcome of a biologic treatment. Previous guidelines, published when only TNF-α antagonists were available as biological agents, addressed only management of CD patients with the most common EIMs.

Uncommon immune-mediated extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infection.

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been associated with myriad extrahepatic manifestations, often resulting from aberrant immune responses. Among the most common immune-mediated manifestations of HCV infection, mixed cryoglobulinemia is the best known extra-hepatic complication. Areas covered: Here we review less common extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infection, with ascertained or presumed immune pathogenesis and the role of the new all oral direct-acting antiviral agents.

The cumulative number of micro-haemorrhages and micro-thromboses in nailfold videocapillaroscopy is a good indicator of disease activity in systemic sclerosis: a validation study of the NEMO score.

Background: Some abnormalities in nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC), such as the presence of micro-haemorrhages (MHEs), micro-thromboses (MTs), giant capillaries (GCs) and reduction in the number of capillaries (nCs), suggest a disease activity (DA) phase in systemic sclerosis (SSc). In a previous paper, we showed that the number of micro-haemorrhages and micro-thromboses (the so-called NEMO score) was the NVC feature more closely associated with DA. The present study was aimed at validating the NEMO score as a measure of DA in patients with SSc.