Blockades in the Pathway of Specialty Care in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Report Based on Indian Rheumatology Association Database.

Aim: The study aims to identify factors influencing referral patterns and delays in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients across clinical settings in India.

Materials And Methods: A prospective, multicenter, observational study collected data from eight centers using the Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA) database. Patient-related factors and referral factors were determined based on patient narration.

Extracellular mitochondrial components as new biomarkers for lupus nephritis.

Major reason for mortality among systemic lupus erythematosus patients is renal failure due to the deposition of immune complexes in the glomeruli. Being a chronic disease with multiple relapses and remissions across the lifespan, it's important to know the degree of nephritis for diagnosis as well as the long-term clinical management of the patients. Currently, renal biopsy is being used as the gold standard to diagnose and define the stages of the disease.

Clinical remission of rheumatoid arthritis in a multicenter real-world study in Asia-Pacific region.

Background: Clinical remission is an attainable goal for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). However, data on RA remission rates from multinational studies in the Asia-Pacific region are limited. We conducted a cross-sectional multicentric study to evaluate the clinical remission status and the related factors in RA patients in the Asia-Pacific region.

Granulomatous nephritis: A rare presentation of juvenile-onset sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is rare in children. Incidence and prevalence of sarcoidosis in India are not known. Renal involvement in childhood sarcoidosis is further rare with no clear data about prevalence.

The Role of Echocardiography in Evaluation of Takayasu's Arteritis: A Report of Two Cases.

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is a large-vessel chronic inflammatory vasculitis that leads to thrombotic vascular occlusion. This can lead to varied presentations including limb claudication, ischemic stroke, hypertension, and heart failure. Although contrast computed tomography angiography is the main modality for imaging of the aorta and its branches, transthoracic echocardiography can be an easy-to-access, point-of-care, initial screening tool for evaluating the aorta and other cardiac structures.

Clinical features, severity and outcome of acute pancreatitis in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a rare but life threatening manifestation of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). The current study aims to study the clinical characteristics, severity, mortality, and outcome of SLE-related AP in Indian population. We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients with SLE who had AP in the past.

Tofacitinib in the treatment of Indian patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A post hoc analysis of efficacy and safety in Phase 3 and long-term extension studies over 7 years.

Objectives: Tofacitinib is an oral Janus kinase inhibitor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We characterized tofacitinib efficacy/safety in Indian vs rest of the world (ROW; excluding India) RA patients.

Methods: Efficacy data were pooled for disease-modified antirheumatic drug (DMARD) inadequate responders from Phase (P)3 studies.

Arthritis in sarcoidosis: A multicentric study from India.

Introduction: Ten to 15% of patients with sarcoidosis have associated arthritis. Chronic arthritis is fairly uncommon. There is a paucity of data on articular manifestations of the disease from India.

Smoking cessation advice by rheumatologists: results of an international survey.

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand practices regarding smoking cessation among rheumatologists for patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases.

Methods: A survey was sent to the rheumatologists participating in the multinational Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (QUEST-RA) group. The survey inquired about the clinical practice characteristics and practices regarding smoking cessation (proportion of smokers with inflammatory rheumatic diseases given smoking cessation advice, specific protocols and written advice material, availability of dedicated smoking cessation clinic).

Determinants of discordance in patients' and physicians' rating of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity.

Objective: To assess the determinants of patients' (PTGL) and physicians' (MDGL) global assessment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity and factors associated with discordance among them.

Methods: A total of 7,028 patients in the Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with RA study had PTGL and MDGL assessed at the same clinic visit on a 0-10-cm visual analog scale (VAS). Three patient groups were defined: concordant rating group (PTGL and MDGL within ±2 cm), higher patient rating group (PTGL exceeding MDGL by >2 cm), and lower patient rating group (PTGL less than MDGL by >2 cm).

Work disability remains a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis in the 2000s: data from 32 countries in the QUEST-RA study.

Introduction: Work disability is a major consequence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), associated not only with traditional disease activity variables, but also more significantly with demographic, functional, occupational, and societal variables. Recent reports suggest that the use of biologic agents offers potential for reduced work disability rates, but the conclusions are based on surrogate disease activity measures derived from studies primarily from Western countries.

Methods: The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) multinational database of 8,039 patients in 86 sites in 32 countries, 16 with high gross domestic product (GDP) (>24K US dollars (USD) per capita) and 16 low-GDP countries (<11K USD), was analyzed for work and disability status at onset and over the course of RA and clinical status of patients who continued working or had stopped working in high-GDP versus low-GDP countries according to all RA Core Data Set measures.

IL1RN*2 allele of IL-1receptor antagonist VNTR polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to ankylosing [corrected] spondylitis in Indian patients.

Despite strong linkage of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B27, its contribution to disease susceptibility is only 15%, and additional genetic factors are likely to be involved in AS. Interleukin (IL)-1 locus has been linked to AS in European population. Thus, we studied IL-1 receptor antagonist polymorphism in Indian patients with AS.

Wegener's granulomatosis--an etiology of acute pancreatitis.

Wegener's granulomatosis is a systemic disease that usually involves the upper respiratory tract and kidneys. We report a 47-year-old man with Wegener's granulomatosis that presented as acute pancreatitis.

Methotrexate twice weekly vs once weekly in rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot double-blind, controlled study.

Methotrexate (MTX) is the most commonly used disease-modifying antirheumatoid drug used in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. It is usually given on a weekly schedule, but as the half-life of its active compound, the polyglutamate MTX, is 3 days, we did a pilot study to see if MTX twice weekly is superior to MTX once weekly. Eighty patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria were enrolled into a double-blind, controlled trial of 16-week duration.