Stopping bDMARDs at the beginning of pregnancy is associated with disease flares and preterm delivery in women with rheumatoid arthritis.

Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) can experience flares during pregnancy that might influence pregnancy outcomes. We aimed at assessing the disease course during pregnancy and identifying risk factors for flares. Data about prospectively-followed pregnancies in RA were retrospectively collected before conception, during each trimester and in the post-partum period.

A review on muscle activation behaviour during gait in shallow water and deep-water running and surface electromyography procedures.

Background: Surface electromyography (sEMG) can provide information on muscle activation patterns during gait.

Objectives: To characterize electromyographic activity during gait in shallow water and during deep-water running compare to on land and to review and analyse underwater surface-electromyographic (sEMG) procedures.

Search Methods: Eight databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE, SPORT Discus, CINAHL, SCOPUS, SCIELO, and LILACS) were searched from their inception to the December of 2019.

Disease course and obstetric outcomes of pregnancies in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: are there any differences among disease subtypes? A single-centre retrospective study of prospectively followed pregnancies in a dedicated pregnancy clinic.

To study disease activity during pregnancy and obstetric outcomes in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) upon different subsets and with focus on medication use. Retrospective observational study of 22 pregnancies in 16 JIA patients (95.5% Caucasian) who were followed between 2010 and 2018.

Stranger Months: How SARS-CoV-2, Fear of Contagion, and Lockdown Measures Impacted Attendance and Clinical Activity During February and March 2020 at an Urban Emergency Department in Milan.

Objectives: An unprecedented wave of patients with acute respiratory failure due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) hit emergency departments (EDs) in Lombardy, starting in the second half of February 2020. This study describes the direct and indirect impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on an urban major-hospital ED.

Methods: Data regarding all patients diagnosed with COVID-19 presenting from February 1 to March 31, 2020, were prospectively collected, while data regarding non-COVID patients presenting within the same period in 2019 were retrospectively retrieved.

Tocilizumab for the treatment of severe COVID-19 pneumonia with hyperinflammatory syndrome and acute respiratory failure: A single center study of 100 patients in Brescia, Italy.

A hyperinflammatory syndrome (HIS) may cause a life-threatening acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. A prospective series of 100 consecutive patients admitted to the Spedali Civili University Hospital in Brescia (Italy) between March 9th and March 20th with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia and ARDS requiring ventilatory support was analyzed to determine whether intravenous administration of tocilizumab (TCZ), a monoclonal antibody that targets the interleukin 6 (IL-6) receptor, was associated with improved outcome. Tocilizumab was administered at a dosage of 8 mg/kg by two consecutive intravenous infusions 12 h apart.

Sjögren's syndrome: state of the art on clinical practice guidelines.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a complex autoimmune rheumatic disease that specifically targets salivary and lachrymal glands. As such, patients typically had ocular and oral dryness and salivary gland swelling. Moreover, skin, nasal and vaginal dryness are frequently present.

Predictive factors of weaning from mechanical ventilation and extubation outcome: A systematic review.

Purpose: To identify, describe and discuss the parameters used to predict weaning from mechanical ventilation and extubation outcomes.

Methods: Systematic review of scientific articles using four electronic databases: PubMed, Embase, PEDro and Cochrane Library. Search terms included "weaning", "extubation", "withdrawal" and "discontinuation", combined with "mechanical ventilation" and "predictive factors", "predictive parameters" and "predictors for success".

Joint angle and movement velocity effects on muscle activity of elderly with knee osteoarthritis - Categorized and probabilistic analysis.

The aim of the study was to determine the effects of joint angle position and angular velocity on concentric and eccentric knee muscles activity of elderly with osteoarthritis (OA) in a deterministic and probabilistic approach compared to matched controls. Concentric and eccentric muscle activation of vastus medialis (VM) and semitendinous (ST) muscles were recorded of eleven elderly women with knee OA (median (Md (25-75%)) age of 62 years (60-72) and Md of body mass index (BMI) of 26 kg/m (24.5-27.

Effectiveness of aquatic exercises compared to patient-education on health status in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of aquatic exercises with patient-education in individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

Design: Randomized controlled trial with blinded assessor and intention-to-treat analysis.

Setting: Aquatic Physiotherapy Centre and Primary Health Care Unit.

Postural Sway, Balance Confidence, and Fear of Falling in Women With Knee Osteoarthritis in Comparison to Matched Controls.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative disease that commonly affects the knee joints. Individuals older than 65 years of age with knee OA have a greater risk of falls. However, there has been limited examination of the parameters of postural sway (increased time, speed, and postural sway area [center of pressure{CoP}]), and OA of the knee.

Effect of Autologous Serum Eye Drops in Patients with Sjögren Syndrome-related Dry Eye: Clinical and In Vivo Confocal Microscopy Evaluation of the Ocular Surface.

Aim: To evaluate in vivo changes after therapy using autologous serum (AS) eye drops in Sjögren's syndrome (SS)-related dry eyes by confocal microscopy.

Patients And Methods: In this study, 24 patients with SS-related dry eyes [12 in AS eye drop therapy and 12 in artificial tear (AT) therapy] and 24 healthy volunteers were recruited. Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI), central corneal thickness, tear film, break-up time, corneal and conjunctival staining, Schirmer's test and corneal confocal microscopy were investigated.

Reliability of ground reaction forces in the aquatic environment.

The aim of this study was to verify the reliability of the kinetic parameters of gait using an underwater force platform. A total of 49 healthy participants with a median age of 21years were included. The kinetic gait data were collected using a 0.

Predictors of maternal and fetal complications in SLE patients: a prospective study.

The aim of the study was to evaluate predictors of disease flares during pregnancy and obstetric and fetal complications in a cohort of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. One hundred and thirty-two pregnancies in 96 SLE patients were prospectively followed by monthly clinical and laboratory evaluations. Predictors of lupus flares, fetal and obstetric complications during pregnancy were identified performing stepwise logistic regression analysis.

Patients with longstanding primary antiphospholipid syndrome: retrospective analysis of organ damage and mortality.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of disease- and therapy-related complications and of the organ damage after a follow-up of 15 years or more in patients with primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS).

Methods: Medical records of patients prospectively followed in our centre for at least 15 years were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: Thirty-five Caucasian patients (33 female, two male) with diagnosis of PAPS followed from 1984 to 2013 with a mean age at onset of 32 years (SD 8.

Morbidity and mortality in the antiphospholipid syndrome during a 10-year period: a multicentre prospective study of 1000 patients.

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of the main causes of morbi-mortality in the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) during a 10-year-follow-up period and to compare the frequency of early manifestations with those that appeared later.

Methods: In 1999, we started an observational study of 1000 APS patients from 13 European countries. All had medical histories documented when entered into the study and were followed prospectively during the ensuing 10 years.

Factors and comorbidities associated with first neuropsychiatric event in systemic lupus erythematosus: does a risk profile exist? A large multicentre retrospective cross-sectional study on 959 Italian patients.

Objective: To analyse risk factors and comorbidities potentially associated with CNS involvement in a large cohort of Italian patients affected by SLE.

Methods: A number of generic (not strictly SLE related) and specific (disease related) risk factors to which all patients have been exposed in the span of 5 years before the first neuropsychiatric (NP) event or before the last available observation were checked for and their distribution was analysed in 959 SLE patients with and without NP involvement; all the first NP events that occurred in a time frame of 10 years were recorded and categorized as SLE related or SLE unrelated.

Results: Three hundred and twenty-six SLE patients with and 633 SLE patients without NP manifestations were included in the study.

Novel topical drug delivery systems and their potential use in acne vulgaris.

A vast spectrum of topical anti-acne agents has emerged in response to new insights that have been gained through the understanding of disease pathophysiology and the need for clinicians to adopt an individualized therapeutic approach. Because topical agents are most commonly used for acne management, this article reviews some novel vehicle delivery advances that are poised to further enhance the efficacy of topical acne formulations, and/or offer the possibility of simplified dosing regimens that may improve treatment outcomes.

Antiphospholipid syndrome and pregnancy.

Since the 1960s, antiphospholipid antibodies have been known to be associated with repeated miscarriages and fetal losses. Other complications of pregnancy, such as preterm birth, with pre-eclampsia or severe placental insufficiency were also frequently reported and are included in the current classification criteria of the antiphospholipid syndrome. The titer, isotype or antigen specificity of the antibodies may be important in risk determination.

Heart involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus, anti-phospholipid syndrome and neonatal lupus.

Cardiac involvement is one of the main complications substantially contributing to the morbidity and mortality of patients suffering from systemic autoimmune diseases. All the anatomical heart structures can be affected, and multiple pathogenic mechanisms have been reported. Non-organ-specific autoantibodies have been implicated in immune complex formation and deposition as the initial triggers for inflammatory processes responsible for Libman-Sacks verrucous endocarditis, myocarditis and pericarditis.

Pregnancy and autoimmunity: maternal treatment and maternal disease influence on pregnancy outcome.

If a woman suffers from autoimmune disease (AD), several factors can affect pregnancy or neonatal outcome: repeated spontaneous pregnancy losses (frequently related to antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL)), neonatal lupus with complete congenital heart block (CHB) (linked to transplacental passage of IgG anti Ro/SS-A antibodies) and the disease activity itself that can affect the mother, the pregnancy and fetal outcome. If appropriately managed, the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is "one of the few tractable causes of pregnancy losses." A recent case control study, on babies from APS-mothers and healthy mothers, did not show any difference in the occurrence of neonatal complications.

Genetics of human arterial hypertension.

Although everybody agrees that each individual's blood pressure variance is under substantial genetic control, its quantitative estimates vary from 35 to 70%, according to the different experimental designs. The problem is that, in spite of such substantial contribution, the discovery of the "genes that cause hypertension" has been quite discouraging. This is indeed caused by the multifactorial nature of the disease and no improvement is to be expected without dissecting hypertension in its major pathogenetic pathways.