Effect of intravenous cyclophosphamide pulse therapy on renal functions and histopathology in patients with severe lupus nephritis.

Despite the wide use of intravenous cyclophosphamide (IC) in lupus nephritis (LN), there are few published studies showing the effect of this treatment on renal histology. In this prospective study, we report the effect of IC on the evolution of histopathologic features in successive renal biopsies in patients with LN. Thirty patients with class IV or V LN were started on IC (10-15 mg/kg) administered once every month for six months followed by three monthly for another six doses making a total of two years of therapy.

The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.

Background: Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of varying degrees of severity has been seen in our clinics, there is no statistical evidence of the magnitude of the problem in Saudi nationals. We conducted this study to determine the prevalence of RA in the Al Qassim Region of Saudi Arabia.

Patients And Methods: Five thousand eight hundred and ninety-one Saudi adults, aged 16 years and over, were studied in a house-to-house survey in the Al Qassim Region.

Nongonococcal septic arthritis at a major teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Twenty five (25) consecutive cases of nongonococcal septic arthritis admitted to King Khalid University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were mostly adults (64%) and Staphylococcus aureus was the most common bacterial species isolated (69%). Predisposing factors were identified in 52% of patients, including diabetes mellitus in seven patients, pre-existing joint disease in two patients and the infection followed intra-articular steroid injections in two patients.