Riziform bodies are structures formed by fibrin and cells that can be found in the synovial fluid or attached to the synovium, and have this denomination due to its rice grain-like appearance. They have already been described in several diseases such as tuberculous arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and rarely in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). This is the case of a boy with a 4-month course of chronic monoarthritis of the left knee, with family history of sarcoidosis in which diagnostic investigation showed the presence of these riziform bodies in the synovial biopsy. Diagnostic investigation ruled out sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and malignancies, establishing the diagnosis of JIA. Our objective was to describe what we believe is the 9th case reported on the presence of riziform bodies in JIA, which are probably underdiagnosed, and should be considered mainly in cases of severe arthritis of difficult medical treatment.

Whipple's disease is a rare and multisystemic bacterial disease caused by the Gram-positive bacillus Tropheryma whipplei. Since it is a rare disease with a varied clinical presentation, its diagnosis is often delayed. The joint manifestations may precede the typical syndrome in decades, being a challenge for specialists and internists. We report a case of Whipple's disease in a man with polyarthralgia whose diagnosis was established after extensive clinical deterioration over five years.

Devic's disease, also known as neuromyelitis optica, is an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the optic nerve and spinal cord. Recently, Devic's disease was demonstrated to be a channelopathy due to the presence of antibodies against the water channel aquaporin-4 in the blood-brain barrier. There have been reports of Devic's disease in infancy, but there are few reported associations of Devic's disease with other diseases. The association of Devic's disease with dermatomyositis has not yet been described in the literature. The aim of this paper is to describe the first case of Devic's disease in an adolescent with juvenile dermatomyositis.

Hypertrophic osteoarthropathy (HOA) is a condition characterized by arthralgia/arthritis, clubbing, and periosteal reaction. Primary form of HOA is observed at early ages of life and is hereditary in nature. Secondary HOA is more frequently seen in clinical setting and occurs as a result of various disorders including inflammatory and malignant diseases. Regression in HOA may be seen after the treatment of underlying condition. In this report, we presented a case of HOA coexisted with myelofibrosis and reviewed the current literature.

Systemic histoplasmosis is an invasive fungal infection that may mimic primary vasculitis, particularly granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), and was rarely described in adult patients. We reported an immunocompetent patient with disseminated histoplasmosis mimicking GPA who fulfilled European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)/Pediatric Rheumatology International Trials Organisation (PRINTO)/Pediatric Rheumatology European Society (PRES) validated classification criteria.A 6-year old boy presented acute migratory polyarthritis with spontaneous improvement, sinus inflammation, fever, headache and abdominal pain. Serologic test for hepatitis, cytomegalovirus, human immunodeficiency virus, Epstein-Barr virus, toxoplasmosis, dengue virus and antistreptolysin O were all negative. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed moderate ascites in pelvis and pansinusitis. Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (c-ANCA) were positive. He had spontaneous remission of the symptoms including fever. At the age of 11 years and 11 months, he had sinusitis, pneumonia and epididymitis. A month later, he was hospitalized and MRI showed left eye proptosis. Cerebrospinal fluid was normal and indirect tests of fungi were negative. Two months later, he had lumbar pain and computer tomography showed a mass in the right kidney and pulmonary nodule in the right lung. He fulfilled EULAR/PRINTO/PRES criteria for GPA, however the renal biopsy showed a focal granulomatous interstitial nephritis with yeast fungal cells compatible with Histoplasma sp. He was treated with liposomal amphotericin B and itraconazole with improvement of signs and symptoms.We reported a progressive disseminated histoplasmosis case mimicking GPA. Histoplasmosis infection should be considered in immunocompetent subjects with uncommon clinical manifestations, such as arthritis, nephritis and epididymitis.

Standard anthropometric measures used to diagnose obesity in the general population may not have the same performance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.To determine cutoff points for body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) for detecting obesity in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by comparing these standard anthropometric measures to a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-based obesity criterion.Adult female patients with more than six months of diagnosis of RA underwent clinical evaluation, with anthropometric measures and body composition with DXA.Eighty two patients were included, mean age 55±10.7 years. The diagnosis of obesity in the sample was about 31.7% by BMI, 86.6% by WC and 59.8% by DXA. Considering DXA as golden standard, Cutoff points were identified for anthropometric measures to better approximate DXA estimates of percent body fat: for BMI value ≥ 25kg/m2 was the best for definition of obesity in female patients with RA, with sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 60%. For WC, with 80% of sensitivity and 35% of specificity, the best value to detect obesity was 86cm.A large percentage of patients were obese. The traditional cutoff points used for obesity were not suitable for our sample. For this female population with established RA, BMI cutoff point of 25kg/m2 and WC cutoff point of 86cm were the most appropriate to detect obesity.

Introduction: Vasculitis are associated with high morbi-mortality caused by cardiovascular disease, through accelerated atherosclerosis. This process has a multifactorial risk factors, which could be related to aspects of the inflammatory disease itself, to the use of steroids and to the presence of traditional risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. Objective: Analyze if patients with large vessels vasculitis (LVV) have higher frequency of comorbidities and compare the prevalence between Takayasu arteritis (TAA) and giant cell arteritis (GCA). Method: 45 medical records of patients who had LVV were analyzed in a retrospective study in Florianopolis, Brazil. Demographic data were collected, as well as related to clinical tidings. These data were compared between the vasculitis groups (TAA and GCA) through analysis on SPSS 18.0, t-student test and chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test, p ≤ 0,05. Project was approved by Human Research Ethics Committee of the related institutions. Results: Among the 45 patients, 22 had TAA and 23 had GCA. 84,4% of the patients were women. The percentage of systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia on TAA were 77,3%, 9,1% and 95,5%, respectively. In the same order these comorbidities were found in GCA patients in 87%, 39,1% and 100%. The control of dyslipidemia was not satisfactory in both groups. Lipid profile did not have a significant difference between TAA and GCA. Conclusion: Patients with GCA have higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus when compared to general population and to TAA. The higher prevalence of systemic arterial hypertension and dyslipidemia found in LVV combined with endothelial inflammation due to vasculitis can contribute to accelerate atherosclerosis and should be evaluated and well treated.

The colored ultrasound images can better highlight the joint echotexture damage.To detect echotexture changes in joints of patients with rheumatic diseases, through a color histogram, and to correlate the area measurements with the gray scale (GS).Four patients with chondrocalcinosis, 5 patients with osteoarthritis and 1 patient with psoriatic arthritis were evalutated. A total of 104 synovitis (SYN) and calcifications (calcif) measurements in cm2 were performed in the dorsal radiocarpal joint (DRR); triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFC); dorsal metacarpophalangeal joints (MCP) and lateral and medial knee suprapatellar recesses. For each GS measure, one was performed for each standard color image. Spearman was used for correlation analysis.Mean±SD of image patterns: RGB (Red, Green and Blue) SYN 16.96±0.25cm2; indigo SYN 6.43±0.07cm2, RGB Calcif 0.03±0.00cm2; indigo Calcif 0.06±0.03cm2; GS SYN 16.13±0.35cm2 and GS Calcif 0.56±0.01cm2. Correlations of color images patterns RGB DRR SYN and indigo DRR SYN: r=1, p<0.001; indigo DRR SYN and RGB suprapattelar SYN: r=1, p<0.001; RGB MCP SYN and indigo MCP SYN: r=1, p<0.001; indigo DRR calcif and RGB TFC calcif: r=1 p<0.001; the RGB and indigo measurement standards when correlated with GS for SYN and calcifs were not statistically significant (p=0.333 to 0.667).The RGB and indigo patterns seem to better define these echotexture damage.

To study the prevalence of idiopathic musculoskeletal pain (IMSP) in school going children and its impact on daily life.One thousand eighteen apparently healthy school children aged 5-16 years were assessed and analysed for IMSP and its associated problems. Standard tests for significance were applied.One hundred and sixty five (16.2%) children mostly males (55.2%) reported IMSP. Lower limbs (52.1%) were the most common location of pain. More than 1 year of pain history was present in 15%. Thirty seven percent children complained of discomfort during walking, 30.9%, had pain during physical exercise, 29.2% had difficulty attending lessons and 4.2% had interference in pursuing hobbies. The children were also further sub grouped into preadolescents and adolescents. There was significant difference in pain duration and duration of each pain episode in the two groups (p=0.01). A significant number of children (21.2%) with IMSP reported school absenteeism (p<0.001). A significant number of adolescents had history positive for contact sports (p=0.001). Sleep disturbances were also reported to be higher in children with IMSP (29% vs. 5.7%, p=0.001). Other associated problems in children with IMSP found were day time tiredness (51.1%), headache (47.3%) and abdominal pain (24.8%).Prevalence of IMSP in school children aged 5-16 yrs was found to be 16.2% and a significant percentage of these children experience interference with daily activities including school absenteeism.

An adolescent with a recent diagnostic of Behçet's Disease (BD) was admitted with fever and intracardiac lesions detected on a routine transthoracic echocardiography, suggestive of endocarditis. Due to the absence of improvement after several rounds of antibiotics the patient was submitted to contrast-enhanced cardiac MRI that showed signs of intracardiac thrombosis, superior vena cava syndrome and pulmonary thromboembolism. The patient underwent surgery to excise the lesions and has been treated with cyclophosphamide and high dose prednisolone achieving complete remission. Intracardiac thrombosis is a rare manifestation of BD, and is associated with a poor prognosis. These patients usually require a combination of anticoagulation and immunosuppression to achieve remission.