New Perspective on the Clinical and Laboratory Characteristics of Rheumatoid Pleural Effusion: A 29-Case Series.

Objective Rheumatoid pleural effusion (RPE) usually occurs in middle-aged men. Pleural fluid analyses have revealed high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and low pH and glucose levels in RPE. We aimed to investigate the clinical and laboratory features of patients with RPE since the beginning of the 21st century.

Automatic evaluation of atlantoaxial subluxation in rheumatoid arthritis by a deep learning model.

Background: This work aims to develop a deep learning model, assessing atlantoaxial subluxation (AAS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which can often be ambiguous in clinical practice.

Methods: We collected 4691 X-ray images of the cervical spine of the 906 patients with RA. Among these images, 3480 were used for training the deep learning model, 803 were used for validating the model during the training process, and the remaining 408 were used for testing the performance of the trained model.

A case of Takayasu arteritis complicated with pulmonary infarction.

Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is a vasculitis that causes inflammation in the arterial walls of large blood vessels. The complication rate of pulmonary artery lesion in TAK has been reported to be relatively high. Severe pulmonary artery stenosis can cause pulmonary infarction in rare cases.

Discontinuation of biosimilar infliximab in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis achieving sustained clinical remission or low disease activity during the IFX-SIRIUS STUDY I (the IFX-SIRIUS STUDY II): Study protocol for an interventional, multicenter, open-label, single-arm clinical trial with clinical, ultrasound and biomarker assessments.

Background: The introduction of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs into clinical practice has dramatically improved the clinical outcomes of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We are conducting the IFX-SIRIUS STUDY I that evaluates whether switching from originator infliximab (IFX) to its biosimilar, CT-P13, is not inferior in maintaining nonclinical relapse to continue treatment with originator IFX in patients with RA achieving clinical remission. It is the next great issue whether disease activity can be maintained in good condition after discontinuation of CT-P13 because no evidence is available regarding the clinical value of discontinuing biosimilars in patients with RA.

Lupus Aortitis Successfully Treated with Moderate-dose Glucocorticoids: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Lupus aortitis is a rare and potentially life-threatening disorder. Previous studies have reported the utility of high-dose systemic glucocorticoids or surgery as the treatment, although there have been no related controlled trials. We herein report a 49-year-old woman with a 35-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus who was diagnosed with aortitis.