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.

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.

Insights into the biosynthesis and assembly of cryptophycean phycobiliproteins.

Phycobiliproteins are employed by cyanobacteria, red algae, glaucophytes, and cryptophytes for light-harvesting and consist of apoproteins covalently associated with open-chain tetrapyrrole chromophores. Although the majority of organisms assemble the individual phycobiliproteins into larger aggregates called phycobilisomes, members of the cryptophytes use a single type of phycobiliprotein that is localized in the thylakoid lumen. The cryptophyte Guillardia theta (Gt) uses phycoerythrin PE545 utilizing the uncommon chromophore 15,16-dihydrobiliverdin (DHBV) in addition to phycoerythrobilin (PEB).

Novel Kv7.1-phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate interaction sites uncovered by charge neutralization scanning.

Kv7.1 to Kv7.5 α-subunits belong to the family of voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv).

Sulcus construction in microtia repair: a retrospective comparison of different techniques.

Objective: To compare the auricular projection results across 3 different techniques of sulcus construction in microtia repair (using a temporoparietal fascial flap, a retroauricular fascial flap from the mastoid region, or a superficial muscular aponeurotic system advancement flap).

Methods: All the patients had been photographed at least 3 months after the second stage (construction of the retroauricular sulcus) in auricular reconstruction for microtia. The auricular projection of each patient was measured, and the results of 3 different techniques were compared.

Clinical manifestations and responsiveness to adalimumab are similar in patients with ankylosing spondylitis with and without concomitant psoriasis.

Objectives: To compare the clinical manifestations of spinal disease, peripheral arthritis and enthesitis, and to evaluate the effectiveness of adalimumab in a large cohort of patients with AS in relation to the presence or absence of psoriasis.

Methods: Patients aged > or = 18 years with active AS were enrolled in an open-label study of adalimumab 40 mg every other week. Clinical symptoms were measured at baseline and Week 12 using standard assessment criteria.

Pulmonary vein isolation using a novel decapolar over-the-wire mapping and ablation catheter.

Recently, a novel radiofrequency (RF) ablation system has been developed to perform pulmonary vein (PV) isolation. The system consists of a decapolar, steerable, over-the-wire mapping and ablation catheter combined with a multichannel RF generator that delivers energy in a temperature-controlled, power-limited fashion in both uni- and bi-polar modes. Using this technique, long continuous ablation lesions can be created within the left atrial antrum around the PV ostium.

Development of a radiographic scoring tool for ankylosing spondylitis only based on bone formation: addition of the thoracic spine improves sensitivity to change.

Objective: The modified Stokes Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS) quantifies radiographic changes in the cervical spine (C-spine) and the lumbar spine (L-spine), but not in the thoracic spine (T-spine). Our objective was to study the contribution of the lower part of the T-spine to structural damage in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

Methods: Radiographs of 80 AS patients obtained at baseline and after 2 years were scored by 2 readers using the mSASSS.

Decreased incidence of anterior uveitis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis treated with the anti-tumor necrosis factor agents infliximab and etanercept.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of anterior uveitis in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) who underwent anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapy, using data from recently performed trials.

Methods: Data from 4 placebo-controlled studies with anti-TNF agents in AS (2 with etanercept and 2 with infliximab) and 3 open-label studies were analyzed for the prestudy prevalence and the incidence of reported flares of anterior uveitis.

Results: A total of 717 patients who received treatment for anterior uveitis during the course of published clinical studies were identified by a systematic literature search using Medline.