Recommendation for the Management of Spondyloarthritis Patients in Kuwait.

Objective: In 2016, ASAS and EULAR made joint recommendations for the management of patients with spondyloarthritis. Although Global and European perspectives are important, they cannot accurately reflect the situation for all patients in all countries and regions. As such, the group worked to tailor the existing international recommendations to suit the specific demographic needs of local populations in the Gulf region, with a specific focus on Kuwait.

Improvement of Signs and Symptoms of Nonradiographic Axial Spondyloarthritis in Patients Treated With Secukinumab: Primary Results of a Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Phase III Study.

Objective: To report the primary (1-year) results from PREVENT, the first phase III study evaluating secukinumab in patients with active nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (SpA).

Methods: A total of 555 patients were randomized (1:1:1) to receive subcutaneous secukinumab 150 mg with a loading dose (loading dose [LD] group), secukinumab 150 mg without a loading dose (non-loading dose [NL] group), or placebo weekly and then every 4 weeks starting at week 4. The NL group received placebo at weeks 1, 2, and 3 to maintain blinding.

Determinants of sleep impairment in psoriatic arthritis: An observational study with 396 patients from 14 countries.

Objective: Sleep quality is diminished in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and close to 40% of PsA patients consider sleep difficulties a priority domain. This work analyzes determinants of impaired sleep in patients with PsA.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of an observational study (ReFlap, NCT NCT03119805), which included adult patients with definite PsA with≥2 years disease duration from 14 countries.

Determinants of Patient-Reported Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease: An Analysis of the Association With Sex in 458 Patients From Fourteen Countries.

Objective: Sex differences may modify symptoms, disease expression, and treatment effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the link between life impact and sex in psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Methods: Remission and Flare in Psoriatic Arthritis (ReFlaP; ClinicalTrials.

Imaging in the preclinical phases of rheumatoid arthritis.

There is growing evidence that the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multistep process. The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) identified different phases before the onset of RA, from the presence of genetic and environmental risk factors for RA, towards clinically suspected arthralgia and undifferentiated arthritis. Currently, a new definition of "window of opportunity" is emerging; this states that the window could even lie in preclinical phase of RA, preceding diagnosis or fulfillment of classification criteria for RA.

Disease Activity Cutoff Values in Initiating Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor Therapy in Ankylosing Spondylitis: A German GO-NICE Study Subanalysis.

Objective: International recommendations for the management of axial spondyloarthritis including ankylosing spondylitis (AS) recommend a Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) level of disease activity of ≥ 4 to initiate treatment with biologics. We aimed to evaluate the level of disease activity used to initiate tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) treatment and the level of responses to treatment based on different BASDAI cutoffs.

Methods: This is a posthoc analysis of the noninterventional, prospective, GO-NICE study in the subgroup of biologic-naive AS treated with golimumab (GOL) 50 mg subcutaneously once monthly.

Distribution and evolution of acute interventional ischemic stroke treatment in Germany from 2010 to 2016.

Background: Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is a new evidence-based treatment option for large vessel occlusion in the anterior brain circulation. Using comprehensive administrative data from Germany, we analysed the nationwide development of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and MT in Germany between 2010 and 2016.

Methods: We considered all documented cases ( = 1,515,634) with a main diagnosis of the ICD-10-GM code I63 (ischemic stroke) and identified specific stroke recanalization therapy by using the corresponding Operating and Procedure Key for systemic thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy out of the DRG statistics.

Secukinumab shows sustained efficacy and low structural progression in ankylosing spondylitis: 4-year results from the MEASURE 1 study.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, on efficacy, imaging outcomes, and safety through 4 years (208 weeks) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Methods: Patients opting to enrol had completed 2 years' treatment in the MEASURE 1 core study with subcutaneous secukinumab 150 or 75 mg every 4 weeks (q4Wk), following intravenous loading to Week (Wk) 4, or placebo treatment to Wk16/24. Up-titration from secukinumab 75-150 mg q4Wk was permitted following a protocol amendment.

The role of 18F-FDG positron emission tomography for the diagnosis of vasculitides.

Large-vessel vasculitis is the most common form of primary vasculitis comprising cranial and large-vessel giant cell arteritis, Takayasu's arteritis and idiopathic aortitis. Prompt diagnosis and treatment of large-vessel vasculitis are important to prevent potentially serious emergencies such as visual loss, vascular stenosis and aneurysm formation. Temporal artery biopsy has long been the standard for diagnosing GCA - an invasive technique that lacks sensitivity compared to a clinical diagnosis that relies on a combination of clinical symptoms, elevated serum inflammatory markers and imaging findings.

Atypical endophthalmitis after intraocular collamer lens implantation.

Unilateral endophthalmitis occurred after bilateral immediately sequential intraocular collamer lens (Visian Implantable Collamer Lens) implantation for the correction of myopic astigmatism in a 49-year-old woman. The surgeries and initial recovery were unremarkable. However, after 3 days, the patient noticed increasing blurring of vision in the left eye and presented to our clinic.

Thrombectomy in posterior circulation stroke: differences in procedures and outcome compared to anterior circulation stroke in the prospective multicentre REVASK registry.

Background And Purpose: In contrast to anterior circulation stroke (ACS), there is no evidence from randomized trials that mechanical thrombectomy (MT) with modern stent retrievers or thromboaspiration is safe and effective in posterior circulation stroke (PCS).

Methods: The present analysis was based on the prospective multicentre Registry on Revascularization in Ischemic Stroke Patients (REVASK) in Germany. Demographic data, periprocedural times and complications, recanalization rates, and functional outcome at discharge and after 3 months were compared between 139 consecutive patients with PCS (84.

Modified stoke ankylosing spondylitis spinal score as an outcome measure to assess the impact of treatment on structural progression in ankylosing spondylitis.

In ankylosing spondylitis (AS), structural damage that occurs as a result of syndesmophyte formation and ankylosis of the vertebral column is irreversible. Structural damage is currently assessed by conventional radiography and scoring systems that reliably assess radiographic structural damage are needed to capture the differential effects of drugs on structural damage progression. The validity of the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS) as a primary outcome measure in evaluating the effect of AS treatments on radiographic progression rates was assessed in this review.

Deepening trochleoplasty combined with balanced medial patellofemoral ligament reconstruction for an adequate graft tensioning.

Aim: To evaluate our modified deepening trochleoplasty combined with a balanced medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction for soft tissue alignement.

Methods: Thirty-three knees with with recurrent patellar dislocations and a trochlear dysplasia in 30 patients (m/f = 12/21, mean age 24 ± 9 years) underwent a combination of a modified deepening trochleoplasty and a balanced MPFL reconstruction for a medial soft tissue alignement. After a mean follow-up period of 29 ± 23 mo, patients' return to sports, possible complications as well as the clinical outcomes using the Kujala, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) and Lysholm scoring were evaluated.

Mapping the Effect of Psoriatic Arthritis Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Objective: The effect of a disease can be categorized by a standardized reference system: the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The objective was to map the effect of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) from the patient's perspective to the ICF.

Methods: A systematic literature review was performed.

Treat-to-target (T2T) recommendations for gout.

Objectives: The treat-to-target (T2T) concept has been applied successfully in several inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Gout is a chronic disease with a high burden of pain and inflammation. Because the pathogenesis of gout is strongly related to serum urate levels, gout may be an ideal disease in which to apply a T2T approach.

Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter in patients with diabetes mellitus: Who benefits and who does not? Data from the German ablation registry.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and arrhythmias. Procedural data and complication rates in patients with DM undergoing catheter ablation for atrial arrhythmias are unknown.

Methods: The German Ablation Registry has been designed as a multi-center prospective registry.

Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Levels Lack Predictive Value in Patients with Active Ankylosing Spondylitis Treated with Golimumab.

Objective: To assess vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) correlations with new bone formation and bone marrow edema in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) treated with golimumab (GOL).

Methods: Following placebo control (through weeks 16 and 24), GO-RAISE (A Multicenter Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial of Golimumab, a Fully Human Anti-TNF-α Monoclonal Antibody, Administered Subcutaneously, in Subjects with Active Ankylosing Spondylitis; ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00265083) all patients received GOL; sera/images were available at weeks 0, 104, and 208.

The involvement of the spine in psoriatic arthritis.

Although different classification criteria have been developed for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA), a clear distinction is still not always possible in daily practice. In addition, clinical examination of patients initially diagnosed as PsA due to peripheral symptoms and skin lesions may also show inflammation in the axial skeleton causing inflammatory back pain, stiffness and changes on imaging including sacroiliitis, spondylitis and syndesmophyte formation, similar to what is known from ankylosing spondylitis (AS), the prototype of SpA. However, and in contrast to patients with AS, the long-term radiographic progression of patients with axial disease in PsA seems to be rather independent from spinal mobility.