Published in Modern Rheumatology
A 54-year-old woman with suspected low-grade B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue type of the eyelids underwent rituximab-containing chemotherapy. She initially responded to the rituximab therapy, but later experienced two recurrences over a 3-year period. Biopsy specimens and a review of her previous histology revealed that she had...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
A 54-year-old woman presented with painless subcutaneous masses on her right hand and spontaneous loss of extension of her ring finger. Surgical exploration of the wrist showed hypertrophic white-colored crystal deposits that both surrounded and invaded into the extensor tendons (intratendinous invasion). Histopathologic examination of the specimen...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
ObjectivesTo investigate CD44 levels in articular cartilage of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and the relationship between CD44 and severity of the disease.MethodsAll 50 cartilage tissues included normal and OA cartilage, and were ascribed to the following four groups on the basis of modified Mankin score: normal, mild lesions, moderate lesions and sever...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
AimAlthough it is known that ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is associated with cardiovascular complications, the extent of these complications has not been clearly demonstrated in young adult patients. We have therefore investigated myocardial diastolic functions, carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and aortic elastic properties of young adult pati...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
ObjectivesWe previously disclosed the enhanced expression of FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) messenger RNA (mRNA) in bone marrow (BM) CD34+ cells in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in which systemic osteoporosis takes place. Since BM CD34+ cells are precursors of osteoclasts, it is possible that FKBP5 overexpression might lead to osteoporosis by affecti...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
ObjectiveWe aimed to confirm the effect of combined treatment with celecoxib and rebamipide would be more effective than celecoxib alone for prevention of upper gastrointestinal (GI) events.MethodsPatients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and low back pain were enrolled in this study. Patients were randomized to two groups: a monotherapy ...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
ObjectiveTo assess the utility of serum chemokine levels as a prognostic indicator of disease progression in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with early onset disease.MethodsSeventy Japanese patients with early onset SSc presenting with diffuse skin sclerosis and/or interstitial lung disease were registered in a multicenter, observational study. C...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
ObjectiveTo assess the reliability and sensitivity of a novel scoring method to evaluate the radiographic appearance of and longitudinal changes including joint remodeling in large joints with early and established rheumatoid arthritis (RA).MethodsThe ARASHI study group devised new radiographic scoring systems (Status score; range 0–16 points, and ...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
We report the case of a 69-year-old Caucasian male with a histological confirmed diagnosis of giant cell arteritis (GCA) of the thyroid. To our knowledge this is the second reported case of GCA of the thyroid with a histological confirmed diagnosis. Unique to this case is that our patient did not have the simultaneous occurrence of a positive tempo...
Published in Modern Rheumatology
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease. Although hematological anomalies are commonly found in SLE, severe polymorphonuclear leukocyte depletion is rare. Most episodes of severe granulocytopenia in SLE patients tend to occur as part of drug toxicity-induced medullar hypoplasia, and recombinant human (rh) gra...
