Impact of rheumatoid arthritis in Turkey: a questionnaire study.

Objectives: Unmet needs of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients regarding physician/patient communication, treatment preferences and quality of life issues were investigated in a Turkish survey study.

Methods: The study was conducted with the contribution of 33 rheumatologists, and included 519 RA patients. The study population included patients who had been on biologic therapy for >6 months and were still receiving biologic therapy (BT group), and those who were biologic naive, but found eligible for biologic treatment (NBT group).

Is there a real adrenal axis dysfunction in patients with amyloidosis associated with familial Mediterranean fever?

Systemic amyloidosis with AA-type amyloid deposition is the major complication of FMF, leading to end stage renal disease. There is no clear data on the prevalence of adrenal involvement in patients with FMF amyloidosis. The aim of this study is to determine the adrenal axis function in patients FMF with amyloidosis.

The frequency of familial Mediterranean fever in an emergency unit.

Approximately 90% of patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) complain of recurrent attacks of fever and abdominal pain of various severities. Prior to the diagnosis of FMF, the majority of patients are admitted to emergency units with a suspicion of acute abdomen pain and at least half of them undergo unnecessary abdominal interventions. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of FMF among the patients who are admitted to emergency units for acute abdominal pain.

A twin study in Behçet's syndrome.

Objectives: Case reports on monozygotic (MZ) twins with Behçet's syndrome (BS) have been few and we are not aware of formal twin studies. We sought the frequency of MZ and dizygotic (DZ) twin births in BS and compared it to a healthy population sample from the same geography. We also looked for the concordance rate among the MZ and DZ twins.

Unusual central nervous system involvement of rheumatoid arthritis: successful treatment with steroid and azathioprine.

Central nervous system involvement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) frequently develops in patients who had a long-term history of RA, irrespective of the disease activity of systemic arthritis, and it has a high mortality rate despite treatment. Since clinical symptoms and radiologic signs are rather nonspecific, in short of doing biopsy, the diagnosis of rheumatoid meningitis is one of exclusion. However, the strongly positive rheumatoid factor in the cerebrospinal fluid is quite specific.

Mycophenolate mofetil versus azathioprine in the maintenance therapy of lupus nephritis.

Background: Renal involvement is one of the major determinants of the outcome in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Renal involvement contributes to both morbidity and mortality of the patients as well as indirectly through side effects of therapy directed at the renal lesions. The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and azathioprine (AZA) in the maintenance therapy of lupus nephritis.

[Increased pulmonary artery stiffness and its relation to right ventricular function in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus].

Objectives: Pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular (RV) dysfunction are severe complications of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The role of increased pulmonary artery stiffness (PAS) has not been studied in RV dysfunction. We investigated the relationship between PAS and RV function in SLE patients without cardiovascular symptoms.

Infliximab does not suppress the tuberculin skin test (purified protein derivative).

Objective: Tuberculin skin testing with purified protein derivative (PPD) is part of tuberculosis (TB) screening in patients receiving infliximab. We assessed whether infliximab, a strong inhibitor of inflammation, suppressed dermal induration, the outcome of this test. We also reassessed the booster phenomenon and the interobserver variability in tuberculin testing.

The carotid-femoral (aortic) pulse wave velocity as a marker of arterial stiffness in familial Mediterranean fever.

Aim: The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that chronic inflammation impairs vascular function and leads to an arterial pulse wave velocity (PWV) increase in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF).

Patients And Methods: Twenty-three patients (17 women) with FMF, and 23 age- and sex-matched controls were recruited. Aortic PWV was determined by using an automatic device (Complior Colson, Createch Industrie, France) that allowed on-line pulse wave recording and automatic calculation of the PWV.