Clinical assessment of atlantoaxial instability using the Sharp-Purser test.

Anterior atlantoaxial subluxation is common in rheumatoid arthritis patients with involvement of the cervical spine. Sharp and Purser have described a test for the clinical assessment of this instability. We assessed the validity of the Sharp-Purser test in 123 outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The efficacy and safety of auranofin compared to placebo in rheumatoid arthritis.

This double-blind multicenter study compares the effect of adding auranofin (AF) 3 mg bid or placebo to patients already taking nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs for rheumatoid arthritis. The 242 patients who completed 3 months of therapy demonstrated that the group receiving AF responded better than those receiving placebo. Of the 144 patients who completed 6 months coded medication, the efficacy in the AF group was superior to the placebo group in several parameters including a reduction in the number of painful or swollen joints, grip strength, dropout rate, and global efficacy as judged by the evaluating physician.

Eosinophilic fasciitis in association with thyroid disease: a report of three cases.

We describe 3 patients whose findings fulfilled all the criteria for eosinophilic fasciitis. Unexpectedly, all 3 were found to have thyroid disease: 2 Hashimoto's disease and 1 Grave's disease. One patient also developed multiple subcutaneous nodules of a rheumatoid type.