Prognostic factors for the recovery of hand function following trapeziectomy with ligamentoplasty stabilisation.

Introduction: Numerous procedures are in use to treat trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis. Most of these techniques impair hand function. In a series of trapeziectomies stabilized by ligament reconstruction with tendon suspension, we investigated whether eventual parameters influenced hand function and dexterity.

Epidemiology, impact, management, and cost of Paget's disease of bone in France.

Objectives: To evaluate the epidemiology, quality-of-life (QoL) impact, management, and cost of Paget's disease of bone.

Methods: Retrospective and prospective data were collected in a representative cross-section of office-based and hospital-based rheumatologists in France, in early 2005. Each rheumatologist included consecutive outpatients with Paget's disease seen over a 2-month period.

Investigations for bone metastasis from an unknown primary.

Objectives: To evaluate the respective contributions of various investigations used to identify the primary tumor in a cohort of patients referred for diagnostic evaluation of one or more bone metastases.

Methods: A single-center retrospective study was conducted in a cohort of patients admitted between October 1990 and January 2000 for evaluation of one or more bone metastases with no known primary. All patients underwent radionuclide bone scanning, a chest radiograph, and an abdominal ultrasound scan.

Most rheumatologists are conservative in active rheumatoid arthritis despite methotrexate therapy: results of the PRISME survey.

Objective: To evaluate the proportion of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) visiting office-based rheumatologists for persistently active RA despite past or current methotrexate (MTX) treatment, and to describe the management of these patients in France in 2003.

Methods: All French rheumatologists were invited to participate in a cross-sectional postal survey. During a predetermined week, they were to include the first 2 patients seen for RA with a history of past or current MTX treatment.

Are tennis players at increased risk for low back pain and sciatica?

Objective: Tennis practiced intensively is generally held to be a risk factor for low back pain. The objective of our study was to evaluate the prevalence of low back pain with or without sciatica during the last week in tennis players versus controls.

Patients And Methods: During an international tennis competition held in Brest, France, ten physicians or medical students interviewed 633 spectators older than 18 years and divided them into tennis players and controls.

Clinical, laboratory, and radiographic features of rheumatoid arthritis with and without nodules.

To determine the significance of nodules in rheumatoid arthritis, we reviewed the medical records of 420 patients who underwent standardized clinical, laboratory, and radiological investigations during a hospitalization for rheumatoid arthritis between January 1, 1981 and December 31, 1994. Sixty-six patients (16%) had nodules and 354 (84%) did not. Age and gender distributions were similar in the two groups.