Factors affecting patient satisfaction related to cost and treatment effectiveness in rheumatoid arthritis: results from the multicenter observational cohort study, FRANK Registry.

Background: To further improve rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, it is necessary to understand each RA patient's satisfaction and to identify the factors affecting their satisfaction. Despite the rise in medical costs for RA, little is known about the factors that influence patient satisfaction with the cost of treatment in RA patients.

Methods: This is a multicenter observational study of Japanese RA patients from the FRANK Registry with data analyzed from March 2017 to August 2020.

A multicentre study of clinical features and HLA typing in Japanese patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Objectives: Due to the low prevalence of HLA-B27 and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Japan, rheumatologists have little experience with AS. We conducted a multicentre study to identify the characteristics and frequency of HLA-B types.

Methods: We analysed epidemiological and clinical data, blood tests, spine radiographs, and HLA-B types in Japanese AS patients.

Prevalence of spondyloarthritis symptom in inflammatory bowel disease patients: A questionnaire survey.

Objectives: We clarified the prevalence of spondyloarthritis (SpA) symptom in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: We performed the questionnaire survey of SpA symptom in IBD patients on their office visit.

Results: One hundred and thirty seven patients were evaluated.

Transposition osteotomy of the acetabulum for advanced-stage osteoarthritis of the hips.

Background: Transposition osteotomy of the acetabulum (TOA) was the first periacetabular osteotomy in which the acetabulum was transposed with articular cartilage. TOA improves coverage of the femoral head and joint congruity. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether TOA is an appropriate option for treating osteoarthritis of the hips at the advanced stage by comparing it with matched control hips at the early stage.

Vertebral strength changes in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with alendronate, as assessed by finite element analysis of clinical computed tomography scans: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

Objective: Finite element analysis of clinical computed tomography (CT) scans provides a noninvasive means of assessing vertebral strength that is superior to dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-measured areal bone mineral density. The present study was undertaken to compare strength changes, measured using this newer method, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who were treated with alendronate (ALN) versus those who were not.

Methods: Thirty female RA patients without radiologic signs of L3 compression fractures or a history of osteoporosis medication were enrolled in a prospective randomized clinical trial.

Interleukin-15 selectively expands CD57+ CD28- CD4+ T cells, which are increased in active rheumatoid arthritis.

Proinflammatory cytokines as well as CD4(+) T cells play critical roles in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, an increase of CD57(+) or CD28(-)CD4(+) T cells was demonstrated in RA, although the mechanism of the increase of these T cells is unclear. In this study, we first examined the relationship between CD57(+)CD4(+) T cells and CD28(-)CD4(+) T cells and found CD57(+)CD28(-)CD4(+) T cells, but neither CD57(+)CD28(+) nor CD57(-)CD28(+) cells, expanded in the peripheral blood of active RA.

The accuracy of socket orientation using a pelvic fixation device for total hip arthroplasty with the patient in the lateral decubitus position in comparison to the vacuum bag fixation method.

Background: In our department, a vacuum bag with two lateral boards used to be utilized in order to maintain patients in the lateral decubitus position during THA. However, we recently changed this modality to a three-point fixation device for the pelvis in order to accurately control the position of the acetabular socket. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively compare the orientation of the acetabular socket when THA was carried out using two different positioning methods.

Outcome of the contralateral hip in rapidly destructive arthrosis after total hip arthroplasty: a preliminary report.

We investigated the outcome of the contralateral hip in patients with rapidly destructive arthrosis of the hip after total hip arthroplasty. Twenty-four patients were included, and the mean duration of radiographic follow-up was 7.0 years (range, 3.

Subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head in younger adults.

We report two cases of subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head observed in younger adults without any history of overexertion. In both cases, MRI revealed an irregular, discontinuous low-intensity band on the T1-weighted images. Both patients were treated operatively, and histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of subchondral fracture.

The protective effects of incadronate on inflammation and joint destruction in established rat adjuvant arthritis.

The effects of a new generation bisphosphonate, incadronate, in established adjuvant arthritis rats were evaluated according to the arthritis index, hind paw volume, and radiological and histopathological examinations. Incadronate suppressed the radiological and histopathological changes of hind paws, as well as the joint swelling in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, the arthritis control rats showed drastic joint inflammation, marked destruction of bone and articular cartilage.

Early MRI findings of the acetabulum and femoral head in a dysplastic hip resulting in a rapid destruction of the hip joint.

We documented a case of rapidly destructive arthrosis of the hip joint (RDA), in whom abnormal findings were observed not only in the femoral head but also in the acetabulum on magnetic resonance images (MRI) in the early stage. Radiographs made 1 month after the onset of pain showed a slight narrowing of the joint space. MRI obtained 2 months after the onset detected small foci of low signal intensity in the subchondral area of the femoral head on the T1-weighted images, and a linear pattern of high signal intensity in the lateral side of the acetabulum on the T2-weighted images.

Bilateral subchondral insufficiency fracture of the femoral head after renal transplantation: a case report.

This report describes the case of a 47-year-old woman who was found to have subchondral insufficiency fractures in both femoral heads after renal transplantation. Initially, plain radiographs showed no obvious changes, but magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed an irregular, discontinuous, low-intensity band on the T1-weighted image of both hips. The patient was treated nonsurgically.

[Bone quantity and quality to its mechanical integrity].

Bone strength is made up of quantity (mass, mineralization), geometry (anatomy, micro architecture, collagen structure), and turnover/damage accumulation. While most of the mechanical behavior can be explained by measures of porosity, several additional descriptors of the geometry have been proposed for better predictions of fracture risk. This review introduces various aspects of these relationships between bone quantity and quality to its mechanical integrity.

Atlantoaxial instability in neck retraction and protrusion positions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Study Design: Radiographic analysis of the upper cervical spine was performed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who had C1-C2 instability.

Objective: To assess whether neck retraction or neck protrusion movements can cause C1-C2 subluxation in patients with C1-C2 instability.

Summary Of Background Data: Cervical protrusion is the position where the head is maximally translated anteriorly with zero sagittal rotation, and this position has been shown to produce maximal C1-C2 extension.

Antiinflammatory and chondroprotective effects of the aminobisphosphonate incadronate (YM175) in adjuvant induced arthritis.

Objective: Incadronate is a third-generation bisphosphonate that suppresses bone resorption and is used to treat skeletal disorders and prevent bone loss in pathological conditions. We evaluated its therapeutic potential and antiinflammatory effects in established adjuvant induced arthritis (AIA), a rat model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Rats were administered incadronate subcutaneously at a dose of either 0.

Possible involvement of the vascular endothelial growth factor-Flt-1-focal adhesion kinase pathway in chemotaxis and the cell proliferation of osteoclast precursor cells in arthritic joints.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory joint disease, including angiogenesis and synovitis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by progressive synovitis and subsequent bone destruction mediated by osteoclasts (OCs). In this study, we investigate the effects of VEGF on OC precursor cells (pOCs) using Raw cells and adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats.

Involvement of CD4+,CD57+ T cells in the disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the frequency of peripheral CD57+ T cells and the physical status of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, and to perform cytokine analysis of these CD57+ T cells.

Methods: Four-color fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis was performed to detect both cell surface antigens and intracellular cytokines in peripheral blood leukocytes, using monoclonal antibodies against CD3, CD4, CD8, CD57, interferon-gamma (IFNgamma), and interleukin-4 (IL-4). RA patients were clinically evaluated with a modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (M-HAQ), joint score, face scale, and visual analog scale (VAS) assessing pain and disease activity.

Relationship between the maximum flexion-internal rotation test and the torn acetabular labrum of a dysplastic hip.

To determine the relationship between pain at flexion-rotation and the status of a labral tear in patients with dysplastic hips, physical examination maneuvers and hip arthroscopy were carried out in 59 patients with dysplastic osteoarthritis (5 men and 54 women; mean age, 41 years; range, 16 to 64 years). Between January 1998 and June 2000, these patients underwent 60 hip arthroscopies at Kyushu University Hospital. All hip joints arthroscoped demonstrated incomplete or complete detaching tears of the acetabular labrum in one portion of the weight-bearing area.