Research In Rheumatic Diseases Research Articles

The Rochester Epidemiology Project: exploiting the capabilities for population-based research in rheumatic diseases.

The Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) is a patient record-based database based upon a medical records-linkage system for all residents of the Olmsted County, MN, USA. This comprehensive system includes all health-care providers of patients resident in this geographically defined region. It uniquely enables long-term population-based studies of all medical conditions occurring in this population; their incidence and prevalence; permits examination of disease risk and protective factors, health resource utilization and cost as well as translational studies in rheumatic diseases.

Outcome in pediatric rheumatic disease.

Outcome assessment has been a focus of recent research in rheumatic diseases and in pediatric rheumatology. The establishment of a preliminary core set of outcome variables for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients and a preliminary definition of improvement using these variables have been important steps toward standardization of outcome assessment. A population-based epidemiologic study has added to our knowledge of long-term outcome in juvenile arthritis and confirms the chronicity of disease that was found in previous studies. Standardization of outcome assessment in pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus has not been achieved to the same extent as in juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, but renal survival and overall mortality are important outcomes in this disease that are easily quantified. Recent studies of pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus demonstrate similarities with respect to organ involvement and overall survival between adult and pediatric lupus patients.

Research and Education in Rheumatic Diseases: Transactions of the Second National Conference.

No physician is unaware of the needs of his arthritic patient, but a good number may not realize the ferment that has been generated in placing these needs on a stronger scientific basis. Indeed, the groundwork in the related basic sciences covers an unusually broad area. Workers in one area benefit from contact with those engaged in other aspects of the problem; the physician is indebted to them all for contributions that underlie his management of his patients. This desire for mutual exchange led to these conferences in 1957 which have now been published. At that time, leading investigators and educators met to report progress made in rheumatic diseases, this conference following upon the success of the first one in 1953. In this slim volume, a major portion is devoted to presentations of recent advances and promising leads by experts in such fields as enzyme chemistry, connective tissue metabolism, structure