Correlations between capillary density and degree of skin pigmentation in healthy children analysed by nailfold video capillaroscopy.

Background: Nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) is a simple, non-invasive diagnostic tool but studies with normal values for capillary density in healthy children are rare. Ethnic background seems to play a role in capillary density; however, this is not well substantiated yet. In this work, we set out to evaluate influence of ethnic background/skin pigmentation and age on capillary density reading in healthy children.

A comprehensive framework for navigating patient care in systemic sclerosis: A global response to the need for improving the practice of diagnostic and preventive strategies in SSc.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc), the most lethal of rheumatologic conditions, is the cause of death in >50% of SSc cases, led by pulmonary fibrosis followed by pulmonary hypertension and then scleroderma renal crisis (SRC). Multiple other preventable and treatable SSc-related vascular, cardiac, gastrointestinal, nutritional and musculoskeletal complications can lead to disability and death. Vascular injury with subsequent inflammation transforming to irreversible fibrosis and permanent damage characterizes SSc.

Reliable detection of subtypes of nailfold capillary haemorrhages in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objectives: In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), it is necessary to obtain biomarkers that predict cardiovascular complications due to premature atherosclerosis, which is related to endothelial dysfunction. Nailfold capillary abnormalities might be a biomarker for endothelial dysfunction. In adults and children with SLE, nailfold capillary haemorrhages have shown to be significantly correlated with disease activity.

Nailfold capillary abnormalities in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a cross-sectional study compared with healthy controls.

Objectives: For selection of high-risk systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients it is necessary to obtain indicators of disease severity that predict disease damage. As in systemic sclerosis, nailfold capillary abnormalities could be such a biomarker in SLE. The primary objective of this cross-sectional study is to describe capillary abnormalities in childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) cohort (onset < 18 years) and compare them with matched healthy controls.

The seedbeds of Tuberculosis: is it time to target congregate settings and workplaces?

Countries where the incidence of Tuberculosis (TB) is low display a low transmission rate in the general population, and this rate has progressively declined in recent decades; however, TB epidemiology has shown a shift of the disease burden from the general population to specific populations at higher risk, such as vulnerable individuals and hard-to-reach groups. In low-incidence countries, preventive and therapeutic strategies must therefore be geared towards targeted interventions in these populations, with the priority being to promptly identify and treat latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) rather than manage infectious cases. One of the most complex challenges in this area is to identify population subgroups with increased incidence/prevalence of LTBI/TB.

Neuroinflammation in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is the second leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Increasing evidence suggests oxidative damage and immune response defects are key factors contributing to glaucoma onset. Indeed, both the failure of the trabecular meshwork tissue in the conventional outflow pathway and the neuroinflammation process, which drives the neurodegeneration, seem to be linked to the age-related over-production of free radicals (i.

Apremilast interferes with the TGFβ1-induced transition of human skin fibroblasts into profibrotic myofibroblasts: in vitro study.

Objectives: Fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition and extracellular matrix overproduction represent progressive events in chronic inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, in which TGFβ1 is one of the key mediators. Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) acts as a proinflammatory enzyme through the degradation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate and it is overexpressed in skin fibroblasts. The study investigated how apremilast (a PDE4 inhibitor) interferes with the intracellular signalling pathways responsible for the TGFβ1-induced fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition and profibrotic extracellular matrix protein synthesis.

Capillaroscopy in childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus: a first systematic review.

Objectives: Recently, a systematic review indicated that, compared to healthy controls, adult patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) show a significantly more abnormal capillary morphology and greater number of haemorrhages in nailfold capillaroscopy and that these capillary changes are associated with disease activity. As yet, no systematic literature evaluation of capillaroscopy in childhood-onset SLE (cSLE) has been performed. Therefore, we aimed to systematically review the literature on nailfold capillary characteristics in cSLE.

Primary antiphospholipid syndrome during aromatase inhibitors therapy: A case report and review of the literature.

Rationale: Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a class of drugs widely used in the treatment of estrogen sensitive breast and ovarian cancer which convert testosterone to estradiol and androstenedione to estrogen. The AIs of third generation, including anastrazole, letrozole and exemestane, have actually become the standard of care of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer in menopausal women and are recommended as adjuvant treatment after surgery in place of/or following tamoxifen. Their main side-effects include reduction in bone mineral density, occurrence of menopausal manifestations and development of musculoskeletal symptoms which are, usually, transient, but sometimes evolve into a typical form of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Assessing FDG-PET diagnostic accuracy studies to develop recommendations for clinical use in dementia.

Background: FDG-PET is frequently used as a marker of synaptic damage to diagnose dementing neurodegenerative disorders. We aimed to adapt the items of evidence quality to FDG-PET diagnostic studies, and assess the evidence available in current literature to assist Delphi decisions for European recommendations for clinical use.

Methods: Based on acknowledged methodological guidance, we defined the domains, specific to FDG-PET, required to assess the quality of evidence in 21 literature searches addressing as many Population Intervention Comparison Outcome (PICO) questions.