INTRODUCTION The diagnostic, predictive and prognostic role of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is widely accepted. Moreover, detection of these antibodies in subjects presenting with undifferentiated arthritis (UA) is associated with a significant risk to develop the disease. On the other hand, clinical and prognostic significance of eval...

Sir, We read with great interest the Letter to the Editor by Olivé et al. “Vasculitis and oral and genital ulcers: Behçet’s syndrome or HIV infection” (1). In general, we agree with their position regarding this association. In our original report (2) we described a patient who exhibited oral ulceration secondary to vasculitis, but who did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for Behcet’s. To da...

There is no doubt that inflammatory arthritis/enthesitis and psoriasis coexist more frequently than would be expected by chance: for instance, in a study of 1285 patients with psoriasis seen in an hospital, 483 (38%) were suffering from arthritis/enthesitis, including 40 patients classified as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) (3%), 177 (14%) as undifferentiated arthritis (UA), and 266 (21%) as Psoriat...

We are very excited to receive the interesting results from Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic. The major difference between our results and the results from the Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic is the value of MRI-detected bone marrow oedema (BME) to improve the accuracy of the 2010 Rheumatoid Arthritis Classification Criteria. Although both groups have used 1.5 T MRI and obtained the identical defini...

Sera from 271 patients with systemic rheumatic diseases were screened for antinucleolar antibodies using immunofluorescence. Antinucleolar antibodies were found in the sera of 73% of patients with progressive systemic sclerosis, 4% of patients positive for autoantibodies with rheumatoid arthritis, and 8% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis associated with sicca complex, but not in patients wi...

The spondyloarthritides (SpA) are a heterogenous group of rheumatic diseases which are genetically linked. The strongest genetic factors, HLA B27, ERAP-1 and IL-23R, are found at variable rates in subgroups. The new nomenclature differentiates predominantly axial SpA (axSpA) from predominantly peripheral SpA (pSpA). Axial SpA (Ax-SpA) is further classified as classical ankylosing spondylitis (A...

OBJECTIVES To determine HLA-DR4 and DR1 allele frequencies in a series of patients with newly diagnosed early inflammatory arthritis. METHODS HLA-DR1 and DR4 frequencies were determined by oligonucleotide typing of 208 patients classified as having either rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or undifferentiated inflammatory polyarthritis. RESULTS The frequency of occurrence of DR4 in these patients wi...

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease in childhood. Enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) is one of the seven JIA subtypes classified by the International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR). Due to inclusion and exclusion criteria, a pitfall of the ERA category is that it does not include all subsets of juvenile spondyloarthropathy, with many children...

OBJECTIVE To review the diagnostic and prognostic value of history/physical examination among patients with undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis (UPIA). METHODS We conducted a systematic review evaluating the association between history/physical examination features and a diagnostic or prognostic outcome. RESULTS Nineteen publications were included. Advanced age, female sex, a...

Early diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is necessary to prevent joint damage and long-term disability. High rates of false-negative and false-positive results of the rheumatoid factor (RF) test make it generally unhelpful in the early diagnosis of RA. A new clinical test for RA--the anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) test--is now widely available in Australia. Owing t...