[Screening for tuberculosis before TNFα treatment in routine rheumatic care in Iceland. Result from the nationwide ICEBIO registry].

Introduction: Treatment with TNFα inhibitors (TNFαi) greatly increases the risk of reactivation of tuberculosis in rheumatic patients. Therefore, it is recommended to screen patients for tuberculosis before initiating TNFαi treatment. Iceland has a low prevalence of tuberculosis and BCG vaccination is not routine praxis.

Type 3 finger length pattern is associated with total knee replacements due to osteoarthritis but not with hip replacements or hand osteoarthritis in the elderly: the AGES-Reykjavik study.

Background: Recent case-control studies have shown an association between type 3 finger length pattern (longer ring finger than index finger) and knee osteoarthritis. This large cross-sectional study tests the hypothesis that the type 3 pattern is associated with total joint replacements due to osteoarthritis in a large population based study.

Methods: Finger length ratios were assessed visually on 5170 hand photographs (2975 females, 2195 males, mean age 76).