In an attempt to develop a quantitative method of evaluating rheumatoid arthritic activity, Tc-99m HEDP joint uptake values and joint-to-bone ratios were studied in ten adult rheumatoid arthritic patients and 17 nonarthritic patients. A joint-to-bone activity ratio of 1.8 at the fourth hour after injection (RA Index) discriminated clinically active rheumatoid arthritic joints from control joint...

OBJECTIVES To determine if patients with rheumatoid arthritis have increased risk of atrial fibrillation and stroke. DESIGN Longitudinal nationwide register based cohort study. SETTING Inpatient and outpatient hospital care in Denmark from 1997 to 2009. PARTICIPANTS Entire Danish population aged over 15 years without rheumatoid arthritis, atrial fibrillation, or stroke before 1997. Partic...

The aim of this study was to assess the percentage of respiratory disorders and airway obstruction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by comparing lung function test results between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and control subjects with other rheumatological conditions. A prospective case-control study of respiratory symptoms and lung function abnormalities was performed in a series of...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the association of body cell mass loss with disease activity and disability in rheumatoid arthritis patients. INTRODUCTION Rheumatoid cachexia, defined as the loss of body cell mass, is important but under-recognized and contributes to morbidity and mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS One hundred forty-nine rheumatoid arthritis patients and 53 ...

EA R o CAL s-ruDis of normal and rheumatoid synovial membranes showed markedly increased acid phosphatase and oxidase activities in the lining cells of the rheumatoid membrane.' Acid phosphatase activity, evident in cytoplasmic granules, serves as a marker for lysosomes-subcellular organelles first described by deDuve and shown to contain numerous hydrolases active at an acid pH.2'3 Homogenates...

Human synovial tissues have been assayed for the production of cartilage degrading activity (CDA). This activity is thought to be homologous with catabolin/interleukin 1 (IL1) produced by porcine synovium and leucocytes and by human leucocytes. The CDA of 26 rheumatoid (RA) and 41 non-rheumatoid synovia was measured on a dry weight basis. The rheumatoid synovia showed a threefold increase in ac...

During the course of experiments to investigate whether the addition of heat-denatured 7S y-globulin to rheumatoid leucocytes would produce transformation of the lymphocytes, an interesting phenomenon was observed. No specific stimulation of the lymphocytes was seen, but intracellular inclusions in neutrophils and macrophages, accompanied by extracellular bodies, were noted after culture of the...

OBJECTIVES To validate 99mTc-labeled arginylglycylaspartic acid (99mTc-3PRGD2) scintigraphy as a means to image synovial neoangiogenesis in joints afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis and to investigate its potential in the early detection and management of rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis were generated in Sprague Dawley rats by type II collagen immunization...

The isolation of diphtheroid organisms from rheumatoid synovial membranes and synovial fluids (Duthie, Stewart, Alexander, and Dayhoff, 1967; Clasener and Biersteker, 1969; Stewart, Alexander, and Duthie, 1969) has raised the question of the role of diphtheroid bacilli in the aetiology of rheumatoid arthritis. The view that rheumatoid disease might involve an abnormal cellular immunological res...

Methotrexate nodulosis in conditions other than rheumatoid arthritis is very rare. It has been reported in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus and Jaccoud’s arthropathy [4], a patient with juvenile arthritis who was rheumatoid factor negative [5], and a patient with psoriatic arthritis and negative rheumatoid factor [6]. Only the patient with juvenile arthritis had pulmonary nodules. Ho...