Role of percutaneous CT-guided biopsy in the characterisation of pleural diseases.

Background: Computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy is emerging as a preferred and safe method for obtaining tissue samples in pleural diseases.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic yield and safety of percutaneous CT-guided biopsy in pleural diseases and to find CT findings predictive of malignant neoplastic pleural disease.

Material And Methods: This retrospective study included 77 patients with pleural disease who underwent CT-guided pleural biopsies from July 2013 to May 2020.

A Comparison Between Dexamethasone and Clonidine as Adjuvants to Levobupivacaine in the Supraclavicular Approach to the Brachial Plexus Block: A Double-Blind Study.

Objective:  The objective of this clinical study is to compare the efficacy of adding dexamethasone or clonidine as an adjuvant drug to levobupivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus block (BPB) with regard to the onset and duration of sensory and motor blocks along with duration of postoperative analgesia.

Background:  Brachial plexus block (BPB), with or without general anesthesia, has been used widely for multiple upper limb surgical procedures, by virtue of its efficacy in terms of cost-effectiveness, efficiency, safety margins, and good postoperative analgesia. Various adjuvant drugs have been described to potentiate the analgesic effect of local anesthetic agents such as epinephrine, clonidine, dexamethasone, dexmedetomidine, or midazolam.

Clinical metabolomics by NMR revealed serum metabolic signatures for differentiating sarcoidosis from tuberculosis.

Background: Pulmonary sarcoidosis (SAR) and tuberculosis (TB) are two granulomatous lung-diseases and often pose a diagnostic challenge to a treating physicians.

Objective: The present study aims to explore the diagnostic potential of NMR based serum metabolomics approach to differentiate SAR from TB.

Materials And Method: The blood samples were obtained from three study groups: SAR (N = 35), TB (N = 28) and healthy normal subjects (NC, N = 56) and their serum metabolic profiles were measured using 1D H CPMG (Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill) NMR spectra recorded at 800 MHz NMR spectrometer.

Increased mortality rate in Takayasu arteritis is largely driven by cardiovascular disease-a cohort study.

Objectives: To analyze the risk, causes, and predictors of mortality in Takayasu arteritis (TAK).

Methods: Survival was assessed in a cohort of patients with TAK using Kaplan-Meier curves. Age- and sex-standardized mortality ratio (SMR = observed: expected deaths) for TAK were calculated by applying age- and sex-specific mortality rates for the local population to calculate expected deaths.

It's Not All About the Journal Impact Factor.

We read with great interest the recent Panorama article that discussed the rise in the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) of rheumatology journals and the potential effect of the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic in this rise. Although there has definitely been a rise in the JIF of journals following the COVID-19 pandemic, there are concerns about some aspects of the paper that we wish to discuss in this letter..

Variations in Idiopathic Short Stature in North India and a Review of Cases from Asian Countries.

Objective: Short stature homeobox () haploinsufficiency underlies idiopathic short stature (ISS) and Leri-Weill dyschondrosteosis. The worldwide prevalence of variations in ISS varies from 2.5% to 15.

Paediatric-onset Takayasu's arteritis associates with worse survival than adult-onset Takayasu's arteritis. A matched retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: A subset of Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) begins in the paediatric age group (≤18 years). Differences in prognosis between paediatric-onset and adult-onset TAK are unclear. We compared the differences in the presentation and survival between paediatric-onset and adult-onset TAK in our cohort of TAK.

Cost-Efficacy Analysis of Use of Frozen Section Histology for Margin Assessment During Breast Conservation Surgery in Breast Cancer Patients.

Background: Margin assessment is an essential component of breast conservation surgery (BCS). Re-excision of infiltrated margin(s) detected on paraffin section histology (PSH) needs reoperation, adding time, inconvenience and cost. Intra-operative assessment of margins using frozen section histology (IFSH) can potentially obviate need for re-operation, thus facilitating one-step oncologically complete BCS.

Cardiovascular risk in vasculitis.

The present review summarizes the burden, risk factors, biomarkers of and therapeutic consideration for cardiovascular disease in systemic vasculitis. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke are intrinsic features of Kawasaki disease, Takayasu arteritis, Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA), and Behcet's disease. The risk of IHD and stroke is increased in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis (AAV) and cryoglobulinemic vasculitis.

Evidence-Based Guidelines for the Management of Allergic Bronchopulmonary Aspergillosis (ABPA) in Children and Adolescents with Asthma.

Background: Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) frequently complicates asthma. There is urgent need to develop evidence-based guidelines for the management of ABPA in children. The Evidence Based Guideline Development Group (EBGDG) of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) National Respiratory Chapter (NRC) addressed this need.

Arterial wall fibrosis in Takayasu arteritis and its potential for therapeutic modulation.

Arterial wall damage in Takayasu arteritis (TAK) can progress despite immunosuppressive therapy. Vascular fibrosis is more prominent in TAK than in giant cell arteritis (GCA). The inflamed arterial wall in TAK is infiltrated by M1 macrophages [which secrete interleukin-6 (IL-6)], which transition to M2 macrophages once the inflammation settles.

Management of Takayasu arteritis.

This review overviews the challenges in the assessment of disease activity, damage, and therapy of Takayasu arteritis (TAK). Recently developed disease activity scores for TAK are more useful for follow-up visits and require validation of cut-offs for active disease. A validated damage score for TAK is lacking.

Metabolic inflammatory volume and total inflammatory glycolysis: novel parameters to evaluate PET-CT disease activity in Takayasu arteritis.

Objectives: To evaluate diagnostic accuracy for active Takayasu arteritis (TAK) for two novel F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET-CT parameters, the inflammatory volume (MIV) and total inflammatory glycolysis (TIG), to quantitate volume of metabolically-active arterial tissue.

Methods: From a cohort of TAK (n = 36, 35 immunosuppressive-naïve), images of PET-CTs were reviewed for mean and maximum standardized uptake value (SUV and SUV), target-to-blood pool ratio (TBR), target-to-liver ratio (TLR), and PET Vasculitis Activity Score (PETVAS). Regions of interest were drawn to semiautomatically calculate MIV in areas of F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake ≥ 1.

Validation of the 2022 American College of Rheumatology/EULAR classification criteria for Takayasu arteritis.

Objectives: The present study validates the 2022 ACR/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) classification criteria for Takayasu's arteritis (TAK), compared with the 1990 ACR TAK classification criteria.

Methods: The fulfilment of 2022 ACR/EULAR and 1990 ACR TAK criteria from four referral centres was assessed for TAK compared with extracranial giant cell arteritis (EC-GCA) and other controls. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), likelihood ratio of a positive test (LR+) or negative test (LR-), and area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) were calculated.

Assessment of anti-arthritic activity of lipid matrix encased berberine in rheumatic animal model.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the drug delivery and therapeutic potential of berberine (Br) loaded nanoformulation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-induced animal model. The Br-loaded NLCs (nanostructured lipid carriers) were prepared employing melt-emulsification process, and optimised through Box-Behnken design. The prepared NLCs were assessed for in-vitro and in-vivo evaluations.

Management of acute mesenteric ischaemia: Results of a worldwide survey.

Background: Acute mesenteric ischaemia (AMI) is a condition with high mortality. This survey assesses current attitudes and practices to manage AMI worldwide.

Methods: A questionnaire survey about the practices of diagnosing and managing AMI, endorsed by several specialist societies, was sent to different medical specialists and hospitals worldwide.

Is it Worthy Enough to Revascularize Chronically Occluded Coronaries?

Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) represent the "final frontier" of coronary interventions with the lowest procedural success rates and the most common reason for incomplete revascularization and referral to coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). CTO lesions are not an infrequent finding during coronary angiography. They are often responsible for enhancing the complexity of the coronary disease burden thereby affecting the final interventional decision in the process.

Utility of ultrasound Angio-PLUS imaging for detecting blood flow in breast masses and comparison with color Doppler for differentiating benign from malignant masses.

Background: Tumor neo-angiogenesis plays an important role in the development and growth of breast cancers, but its detection by imaging is challenging. A novel microvascular imaging (MVI) technique, Angio-PLUS, promises to overcome the limitations of color Doppler (CD) in detecting low-velocity flow and small diameter vessels.

Purpose: To determine the utility of the Angio-PLUS technique for detecting blood flow in breast masses and compare it with CD for differentiating benign from malignant masses.