OBJECTIVE To evaluate the clinical significance of interleukin-6 (IL-6) measurements in relation to laboratory and clinical measures of disease activity and radiological progression in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS A prospective study was performed in 51 patients with early RA during the first three years of the disease, with monthly clinical and laboratory assessments and biannual...

The 7 Core Data Set measures to assess rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were analysed for their relative efficiencies to distinguish active from control treatments in 9 comparisons of 5 agents, methotrexate, leflunomide, infliximab, adalimumab, and abatacept, in 8 clinical trials. Among the 7 measures, levels of relative efficiencies were in a similar range, highest for the physician global estimate, ...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to determine relationship of ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) level, C-reactive protein (CRP) level, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), white blood cell (WBC) count, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume (MPV) to appendicitis in children. METHODS Study included total of 63 patients who p...

OBJECTIVES The diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is difficult and requires a battery of tests and clinical findings. The purpose of this review is to summarize all current evidence for common and new serum biomarkers utilized in the diagnosis of PJI. METHODS We searched two literature databases, using terms that encompass all hip and knee arthroplasty procedures, as well as PJ...

BACKGROUND Chlamydia infection in acute pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is associated with serious complications including ectopic pregnancy, tubal infertility, Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome and tubo-ovarian abscess (TOA). This study compared clinical and laboratory data between PID with and without chlamydia infection. METHODS The medical records of 497 women who were admitted with PID between...

Rapid diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis is important because of its association with long-standing complications. This study was conducted to compare the reliability of serum procalcitonin (PCT) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) with conventional laboratory parameters for diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis in children. Seventy nine children with urinary tract infection were divided into two groups ...

OBJECTIVE Neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has emerged as a valuable and reliable method for follow-up of systemic inflammatory disease. We herein aimed to evaluate the role of NLR in the clinical follow-up of inflammation and also to compare its relationship with other measures, such as erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Act...

Introduction. The association between the level of systemic inflammation and systemic hypertension (sHTN) among subjects with sarcoidosis has not been previously explored. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the relation between the level of systemic inflammation in sarcoidosis, measured by various serum inflammatory markers, and sHTN. Results. Among a total of 108 cases...

PURPOSE To investigate whether serum amyloid A (SAA) levels are increased in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and whether its levels correlate well with AS disease activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-eight patients with AS and 38 age- and sex-matched control subjects were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Their SAA levels were quantitatively measured by immunonephelometry. A...