Flares in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: SLE is characterized by relapses and remissions. We aimed to describe the frequency, type and time to flare in a cohort of SLE patients.

Methods: SLE patients with one or more 'A' or 'B' BILAG-2004 systems meeting flare criteria ('new' or 'worse' items) and requiring an increase in immunosuppression were recruited from nine UK centres and assessed at baseline and monthly for 9 months.

Outbreak of syphilis in men who have sex with men living in rural North Wales (UK) associated with the use of social media.

Objectives: To describe an outbreak of infectious syphilis in rural North Wales and the control measures implemented.

Methods: Following reports of an increase of syphilis in North Wales, a multidisciplinary Outbreak Control Team (OCT) was established. A multilevel prevention and control response was initiated, including: active case surveillance, partner notification and treatment, sexual network analysis, awareness raising with professionals and affected communities, point-of-care syphilis testing at a sauna and a health promotion campaign targeting users of men who have sex with men (MSM) social network mobile phone applications (apps).

Resistant hypertension with adrenal nodule: are we removing the right gland?

Unlabelled: Resistant hypertension is often difficult to treat and may be associated with underlying primary aldosteronism (PA). We describe the case of an elderly gentleman who presented with severe and resistant hypertension and was found to have a left adrenal incidentaloma during evaluation but had aldosterone excess secondary to unilateral adrenal hyperplasia (UAH) of the contralateral gland, which needed surgical intervention. A 65-year-old gentleman was evaluated for uncontrolled high blood pressure (BP) in spite of taking four antihypertensive medications.

Rheumatoid arthritis-related interstitial lung disease: associations, prognostic factors and physiological and radiological characteristics--a large multicentre UK study.

Objectives: The prevalence of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in RA is ∼5%. Previous work identified increasing age, active articular disease and articular damage as risk factors for RA-associated ILD (RA-ILD). The roles of high-resolution CT (HRCT) and lung function testing in defining the nature and extent of pulmonary involvement have recently been explored.