Journal Of Rheumatology Research Articles

AB0620 Sexual Functioning and Quality of Life among Married Women with Systemic Sclerosis

BackgroundSexuality is an often neglected area in patients with rheumatic disease.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to assess sexual functioning and quality of life in a group of married women...

AB0943 Monocyte/Neutrophil (M/N) CD64 Ratio is Useful for Differentiating Infection from Disease Activity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Patients

BackgroundClinical decision-making in the management of fever is difficult when distinguishing infection and high disease activity in SLE. CD64 (FcγRI) is upregulated on monocytes as a response to interferon (IFN)-α...

THU0239 Association of the 2/2 Genotype of the Enhancer Hs1,2A of the IG Heavy 3' Regulatory Region with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis

BackgroundThe allele*2 of the enhancer HS1,2A (IgH 3'RR-1) has been shown to have a binding site for NK-kB and to be associated to Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and...

THU0231 Disease Characteristics, Treatment Response and Remission in A Prospective Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Cohort: Does Autoantibody Seropositivity Matter?

ObjectivesTo assess possible differences in the major outcome (disease remission) over time in anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) and rheumatoid factor (RF)-IgM seropositive and seronegative early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) cohorts.MethodsA total...

AB0008 Blys/April Gene Expression in Synovial Fluid and Blood in Rheumatoid Arthritis

BackgroundThe B Lymphocyte Stimulator (BLyS) and A PRoliferation-Inducing Ligand (APRIL) signaling pathway has an important role in the selection, maturation and survival of B cells.Dysregulation of BLyS/APRIL is involved in...

SAT0558 Vegf Promotes RANKL Expression and Osteoclastogenesis in Rheumatoid Arthritis

BackgroundVascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic, inflammatory, and bony destructive molecule in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).ObjectivesThis study was aimed to determine the specific role of VEGF...

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Re: Sarcoidosis Presenting with Inguinal Lympadenopathy and Treated with a Combination of Corticosteroids and Azathioprine

©2014 Turkish League Against Rheumatism. All rights reserved. We read with great interest the article entitled “Sarcoidosis Presenting with Inguinal Lympadenopathy and Treated with a Combination of Corticosteroids and Azathioprine”, by Isik in the esteemed Turkish Journal of Rheumatology in which the author, described a 50-year-old female diabetic patient who had complained of inguinal pain and a mass for three months. Isik finally diagnosed the sarcoidosis, and treated the patient successfully. I would like to point out a few things about renal involvement associated with sarcoidosis.

Left Main Coronary Dissection in Takayasu's Arteritis: the Value of Transesophageal Echocardiography and Intravenous Ultrasonography

©2014 Turkish League Against Rheumatism. All rights reserved. We read with interest the article by Akpinar et al. entitled “Left Main Coronary Dissection in a Patient with Takayasu's Arteritis” that was published in the Turkish Journal of Rheumatology. The authors reported on a 48-year-old female patient who was diagnosed with Takayasu’s arteritis along with a spontaneous left main coronary artery dissection. After the dissection was identified by coronary angiography, the patient was referred for emergency coronary artery bypass surgery. Takayasu’s arteritis is a chronic inflammatory process that primarily involves the aorta and its main branches. Because 10-30% of Takayasu’s arteritis patients have coronary artery lesions, this disease should be regarded as a risk factor for aortic dissection and aneurysm. In this case, the authors performed transthoracic echocardiography to rule out aortic dissection, involving the arch and coronary ostial narrowing before and during surgery. In previous studies, the sensitivity and specificity were 59.3% and 76.9%, respectively for transthoracic echocardiography and 98-100% and 95-98%, respectively for transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of aortic dissection. We believe that t ransesophageal echocardiography is an extremely useful tool, and it is now used widely for the detection of aortic diseases because the entire thoracic aorta and left main coronary ostium can be viewed, and any aortic regurgitation can be easily seen. Furthermore, the characteristics of coronary lesions can affect which particular treatment is selected. At the time of angiography, left main coronary artery patency can be evaluated via intravenous ultrasonography. In turn, this could aid in choosing the optimal treatment, thus saving patients from unnecessary angioplasty or surgery and assisting in the improvement of clinical outcomes after interventions.

The publication’s first year of completion and the challenges ahead

Realizing the fact that the number of open access journal in the field of autoimmune disease is very limited, Internet Journal of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology (IJRCI) have commenced its journey as a peer-reviewed, open access journal in 2013. The journal’s key policy is to enhance intensive intellectual interactions among scholars and researchers working in the field of rheumatology and clinical immunology. Hence the publication does not impose any kind of restrictions either on authors or readers.

Editorial introductions

Editorial introductions

Impact of physical effort and pain on gait kinematics parameters in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis

[1] Delorme S, et al. Assessment of the 3D reconstruction and high-resolution geometrical modeling of the human skeletal trunk from 2D radiographic images. The IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 2003;50:989–98. [2] Masiero S, et al. Rehabilitation treatment in patientswith ankylosing spondylitis stabilizedwith tumor necrosis factor inhibitor therapy. A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Rheumatology 2011;38(7):1335–42.

Drs. Lim and Feldman reply

To the Editor: We thank Drs. Broder and Putterman for their input1. We were invited to kick off a new series that will discuss issues in study designs in The Journal of Rheumatology 2. In this series, the editor assigns a paper to be published within the same issue to … Address correspondence to Dr. Lim, The Hospital for Sick Children, Division of Rheumatology, 555 University Ave., Suite 8253A, Toronto, Ontario M5G1X8, Canada. E-mail: lily.lim{at}sickkids.ca

Gout: a critical analysis of scientific development

In recent years, scientific efforts on the topic "gout" have focused on pathogenetic aspects. This has opened new strategies of anti-inflammatory therapy and has improved urate-lowering therapy. So far, a scientometric analysis of the topic "gout" has not been generated despite an increased need for it in times of modified evaluation criteria for academic personnel and a subsequent tendency to co-authorship and author self-citation. The study aims to evaluate quality and quantity of scientific research dealing with the topic "gout" and to contribute to distinguish relevant research output. The current study uses scientometric methods and large-scale data analysis to evaluate quality and quantity of scientific efforts in the field of "gout." Data were gained from PubMed and ISI-Web. In the last 22 years (1990–2012), 4,424 items were published by 71 countries, of which the USA have been the most productive supplier with 32 % of all publications, followed in considerable distance by the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and Germany, respectively. The USA have established their position as center of international cooperation. The most prolific journals in the field of gout were "Arthritis and Rheumatism," "Annals of the Rheumatic diseases" and the "Journal of Rheumatology." Our analysis specifies the most productive authors and institutions engaged with the topic, the most successful international and national cooperation and the most prolific journals and subject areas. Nevertheless, scientometric indicators, such as h-index, citation rate and impact factor, commonly used for assessment of scientific quality, should be seen critically due to distortion by bias of self-citation and co-authorship.

AB0769 Decrease in voicing of critical view in rheumatology journals

BackgroundThere has been concern that medical journals do not provide adequate space for letters to the editor sections.1 We had the impression that rheumatology journals, similarly, were not giving due...

THU0321 110 patients with enthesitis related arthritis: A demographic and clinical study from a tertiary level pediatric rheumatology centre in india

BackgroundThe ERA subcategory forms a major proportion of children with JIA in India (36%) (1) whereas western literature suggests ERA in JIA patients to be 6-19% (2,3). In these patients,...

FRI0579-HPR Quest, chaos and restitution: a qualitative study of the experiences of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia syndrome

BackgroundDiagnosis of FMS is curently made within a biomedical paradigm but remains contentious (Erlich, 2003; Hadler, 2004). Quallitative research (Sim and Madden, 2008) predominantly conducted in Scandinavia and North America...

AB0222 Incidence of ar in albania (based on hospital data, 2004-2011)

BackgroundRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues.In this paper we provide the first data on the incidence of AR...

AB0408 An investigation of vitamin d status in systemic lupus erythematosus patients residing in northern ireland: its relationship with disease activity and bone mineral density

BackgroundVitamin D has the potential to modulate the immune system for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)1, and which could potentially lead to improved clinical outcomes. Observational data have suggested...

THU0438 Peptidylarginine Deiminase Polymorphisms Associated with Susceptibility to Tuberculosis

BackgroundAnti–cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (as a serologic marker of RA) bind to citrulline residue which is now considered to play a pivotal role in various human diseases such as multiple...