objective (s):rheumatoid arthritis (ra) is a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder, primarily targeting the synovium and articular cartilage that leads to joint damage. recent reports have suggested the role of adipocytokines in mediating joint damage; however it still is a matter of debate. the purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between serum values of adiopocytokines (lept...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate patients with mutilans-like hand deformities in chronic inflammatory joint diseases and to determine radiographic scoring systems for arthritis mutilans (AM). METHODS A total of 52 patients with severe hand deformities were collected during 1997. A Larsen hand score of 0-110 was formed to describe destruction of the hand joints. Secondly, each ray of the hand was assess...

OBJECTIVES To investigate determinants of joint destruction and reduced bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) not treated with bisphosphonates or hormone replacement therapy and to evaluate if there are common markers of erosive disease and bone loss. METHODS BMD was measured using dual x ray absorptiometry and joint damage was examined by x ...

OBJECTIVE The TRAF1 genetic region conferring susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been reported to associate with radiological damage. We aimed to test RA genetic susceptibility markers for association with a continuous measure of radiological damage over time using longitudinal modeling techniques. METHODS Sixty-seven RA susceptibility variants were genotyped in 474 patients in t...

Objective: To investigate the role of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP) for the prediction of radiological outcome in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: Anti-CCP was assessed at baseline in 379 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (disease duration ,1 year). Radiological joint damage and progression were assessed by Larsen score after two years of follow ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (anti-CCP) for the prediction of radiological outcome in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Anti-CCP was assessed at baseline in 379 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (disease duration <1 year). Radiological joint damage and progression were assessed by Larsen score after two years of follow ...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate a contribution of selected laboratory parameters for a prediction of progressive and erosive development in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS In a prospective study baseline levels of antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), IgM, IgA, and IgG rheumatoid factors (RFs) were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 104 pati...

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) and autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) on joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS Eight patients with active, refractory, progressively erosive RA were treated. The conditioning regimen consisted of intravenous administration of high doses of cyclophosphamide (totaling 200 mg/kg), with subsequent r...

Omeract IV started a discussion on the development of radiological response criteria in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Such criteria depend on the definition of what constitutes the minimum clinically important progression of damage. Because such a definition is currently not available, as a first step we have used the concept of random measurement error to determine what is the smallest detectable...

OBJECTIVE To examine variables associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and vertebral deformities in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from 3 northwest European countries. METHODS Female patients were recruited from rheumatology clinics in Oslo, Norway; Truro, UK; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (150 total, 50 per center, age 50-70 years, disease duration > or = 5 years). Demographic and ...