Cutaneous iontophoresis of vasoactive medications in patients with scleroderma-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: It remains unknown whether the cutaneous microvascular responses are different between patients with scleroderma-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH) and SSc without pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Methods: We included 59 patients with SSc between March 2013 and September 2019. We divided patients into 4 groups: (a) no PH by right heart catheterization (RHC) (n = 8), (b) no PH by noninvasive screening tests (n = 16), (c) treatment naïve PAH (n = 16), and (d) PAH under treatment (n = 19).

Validity of patient-reported comorbidities before total knee and hip arthroplasty in patients older than 65 years.

Obtaining preoperative medical histories in elderly patients can be challenging, and tools have been developed to aid in history gathering. The purpose of this study is to determine the agreement between patient- and physician-reported histories before total knee or hip arthroplasty. Three hundred eighty-two patients older than 65 years completed a preoperative morbidity assessment form preoperatively.

Agreement study of radiographic classification of rotator cuff tear arthropathy.

Hypothesis: This study evaluated the intra-rater and inter-rater correlation of 3 commonly used x-ray image classifications and defined the clinical factors most correlated with a surgical recommendation for a hemiarthroplasty or a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RSA) for treatment of rotator cuff tear arthropathy (CTA). We hypothesized that specific radiographic criteria and clinical criteria would be most important and consistently used among experienced shoulder surgeons when determining the best surgical option for a particular patient.

Methods: Four experienced orthopedic surgeons evaluated standard anteroposterior radiographs and the clinical examination of 37 shoulders with CTA.