Prevalence and distribution of cartilage damage at the metacarpal head level in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis: an ultrasound study.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and distribution of US-detected qualitative cartilage damage at metacarpal heads of patients with RA and hand OA.

Methods: Fifty-two RA patients and 34 patients with hand OA were enrolled. US examination of the metacarpal head cartilage from the II to V finger of both hands was performed.

The Expanded Risk Score in Rheumatoid Arthritis (ERS-RA): performance of a disease-specific calculator in comparison with the traditional prediction scores in the assessment of the 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthrit.

Aims Of The Study: To assess the performance of the Expanded Risk Score in Rheumatoid Arthritis (ERS-RA), a disease-specific cardiovascular disease (CVD) prediction score, in evaluating the 10-year risk, in comparison with other traditional algorithms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: Consecutive RA patients, aged 40-75 years, without established CVD, were included. We calculated the disease-specific ERS-RA and four traditional CVD prediction scores: the modified Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (mSCORE), the Framingham Risk Score using body mass index (FRS BMI), the calculator developed by the American College of Cardiology / American Heart Association in 2013 (ACC/AHA 2013) and the QRISK3.

Entheseal involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: an ultrasound study.

Objectives: The main objective of this study is to explore the prevalence and distribution of entheseal US changes in a cohort of SLE patients, taking as controls a group including both PsA patients and healthy subjects. The secondary objective is to investigate the correlation between the US findings and the clinical and serological data in SLE patients.

Methods: Clinical and US assessment of quadriceps, patellar and Achilles tendons, and plantar fascia entheses were performed by independent rheumatologists on 65 patients with SLE, 50 patients with PsA and 50 healthy subjects.

Defining functioning categories in axial Spondyloarthritis: the role of the ASAS Health Index.

The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society Health Index (ASAS HI) is an inclusive questionnaire, able to describe the total impairments and restrictions due to axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Considering the relationship between ASAS HI and the Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS)-CRP, the aim of this study is to establish the ASAS HI cut-off values for functioning categories employing the ASDAS-CRP disease activity states in axSpA patients. ASAS HI and ASDAS-CPR were obtained from 140 consecutive axSpA patients, divided in the four ASDAS-CRP disease activity categories.

The 12-item Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease Questionnaire: Construct Validity, Reliability, and Interpretability in a Clinical Setting.

Objective: To study, in a real-life setting, the construct validity, the reliability, and the interpretability of the 12-item Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID-12) questionnaire in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: In 144 consecutive patients with PsA (81 men and 63 women, mean age of 51.4 ± 12.

Clinimetric properties of the ASAS health index in a cohort of Italian patients with axial spondyloarthritis.

Background: The impact of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is considerable in many aspects of the life. Over the last decades, many efforts have been conducted to develop useful tools for the evaluation of disease activity. However, since the development of Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society Health Index (ASAS HI), no specific freely questionnaire to describe the overall picture of impairments, limitations and restrictions in activities or social partecipation were available.