1,720,978 research outputs found
The efficacy of adalimumab in psoriatic arthritis concomitant to overlapping primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis: a case report
Full text linkBACKGROUND:
The overlap syndrome of primary biliary cholangitis (formerly called primary biliary cirrhosis) and primary sclerosing cholangitis is an extremely rare condition that has never been described in association with other immune-mediated diseases, including psoriatic arthritis. While treatment with anti-Tumour Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) agents has proved to be effective in inflammatory arthropathies such as psoriatic arthritis, they have been employed in only a limited number of patients with autoimmune hepatitis, and their effectiveness is unclear.
CASE PRESENTATION:
We report the case of a 51-year-old female affected with psoriatic arthritis concomitant to overlapping primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis in whom 28 months of adalimumab treatment improved the symptoms of the inflammatory arthropathy as well as those of both cholangiopathies.
CONCLUSION:
Our results suggest that further studies examining the therapeutic role of this particular TNF-α blocker are warranted in cholestatic autoimmune hepatitis patients, and in particular in those individuals in whom the disease is associated with inflammatory arthropathies
Primary sclerosing cholangitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease: an observational study in a Southern Europe population focusing on new therapeutic options
Full text linkBACKGROUND:
Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease with a strong association with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Medical treatment for PSC is still disappointing, whereas immunomodulators and biologics have been proven to be effective in IBD.
AIMS:
This study aimed to analyze (i) the natural history of patients with PSC with or without IBD and (ii) the long-term efficacy of biologics in patients with PSC and concomitant IBD or rheumatological disorders.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
This study included 92 consecutive PSC patients, 50 (54.3%) men and 42 (45.7%) women, with a mean age of 32.0±14.3 years at diagnosis and a mean follow-up duration of 103.8±86 months. Forty-nine (53.3%) patients had associated IBD (38 ulcerative colitis, 10 Crohn's disease, one indeterminate colitis).
RESULTS:
No significant differences were found between PSC patients with and without associated IBD in terms of liver transplantation, cancer, and death rates. Cholangiocarcinoma was only identified among patients with PSC alone, whereas other cancers (hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal, and gallbladder cancer) were found only in the group with associated IBD. Five PSC patients were treated with biologic agents: three with adalimumab and one with infliximab for IBD or for rheumatoid arthritis, and one patient with rituximab for rheumatoid arthritis. Adalimumab decreased alkaline phosphatase in two of three patients after 6 and 12 months, infliximab reduced γ-glutamyltransferase after 6 and 12 months, but liver function tests tended to deteriorate thereafter. Cholangiography changes remained stable in all patients.
CONCLUSION:
Biologic agents may improve liver function tests in PSC patients, but may be associated with adverse events including deterioration of liver function
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Predictive factors for switching in patients with psoriatic arthritis undergoing anti-TNFα, anti-IL12/23, or anti-IL17 drugs: a 15-year monocentric real-life study
Full text linkWe aimed to evaluate the (a) potential predictors of first biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (bDMARD) failure and (b) factors associated with failure of multiple therapies in psoriatic arthritis (PsA)
Maternal autoantibody profiles at risk for autoimmune congenital heart block: a prospective study in high-risk patients
Full text linkThis prospective study aimed to identify antibody profiles characterising mothers with fetuses developing congenital heart block (CHB) by comparing their antibody frequencies and levels with those in unaffected mothers
Risk factors for damage accrual in primary antiphospholipid syndrome: A retrospective single-center cohort study
No full textBackground: Despite anticoagulant therapy, a antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) has a higher rate of recurrent events, which can lead to damage accrual and a negative impact on life quality. Objectives: To evaluate the risk factors and APS subsets associated with damage accrual. Patients/methods: We conducted a retrospective single-center study. We reviewed the medical records of 282 APS patients, with a median age of 36 (IQR 30-46) years and a median of 195 (IQR 137-272) months. The primary endpoint was damage accrual during follow-up, defined as organ/tissue impairment present for at least six months or causing permanent loss. The secondary endpoints were early organ damage within six months of disease onset and death. Results: Eighty (28.4%) patients presented damage accrual; 52.5% developed damage within six months of APS onset, and 41.3% had more than one organ involved. Neuropsychiatric involvement, affecting 38.8% of the patients, was the most frequent, followed by peripheral vasculopathy and renal involvement, 35% either. Death happened in 7 (2.5 %) patients; damage accrual was associated with a 6-fold risk of death [OR 6.7 (95% CI 1.3-35.1), p = 0.03]. Microangiopathy and non-criteria manifestations were independent risk factors for damage accrual with 5-fold and 4-fold higher risk, respectively [(OR 4.9 (95% CI 2.1-11.7), p < 0.0001 and (OR 3.8 (95% CI 1.5-10.1), p = 0.007]. The cumulative incidence of damage accrual increased by 5.7-fold and 3.6-fold in patients with microangiopathy and non-criteria manifestations. Conclusions: APS patients had a higher frequency of damage accrual. Microangiopathy and non-criteria manifestations were independent risk factors for damage accrual
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