The aim of the study was to examine the evolution of the clinical features, clinical course of juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE) and to estimate most frequent longterm outcome of the disease according to SLICC/ACR Damage Index for SLE in a group of children whose disease began after 1985 and has been hospitalized in Institute of Rheumatology in Warsaw since 1985 till 2005. The study ...

Ventricular assist devices (VADs) have already helped many patients with heart failure but have the potential to assist more patients if current problems with blood damage (hemolysis, platelet activation, thrombosis and emboli, and destruction of the von Willebrand factor (vWf)) can be eliminated. A step towards this goal is better understanding of the relationships between shear stress, exposu...

OBJECTIVE To examine long-term organ damage and safety following treatment with belimumab plus standard of care (SoC) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS Pooled data were examined from two ongoing open-label studies that enrolled patients who completed BLISS-52 or BLISS-76. Patients received belimumab every four weeks plus SoC. SLICC Damage Index (SDI) values were ass...

Patients 810 generally healthy adults who were ≥ 25 years of age (mean age 50 y, 62% women), had above optimal BP (mean systolic BP 120–159 mm Hg and diastolic BP 80–95mmHg during 3 screening visits), were not taking antihypertensive medication, and had a body mass index of 18.5–45.0. Exclusion criteria were regular use of drugs affecting BP; target organ damage or diabetes; use of weight loss ...

This review summarises most currently used indices to assess and monitor patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in clinical trials, long-term observational studies, and clinical care. Six SLE disease activity indices include the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group Index (BILAG), European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement (ECLAM), Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM), Systemic Lu...

OBJECTIVE Information from successive inception cohorts is needed to monitor the long-term prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the effect of treatment on it. We studied work disability and its association with the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) index and the Larsen score of radiographic damage. METHODS Work disability was recorded at onset and at 1, 3, 8, 15 and 20 yr from entry...

OBJECTIVES To estimate the effect of SLE disease activity, observed over a 12-month period, on the risk of irreversible organ damage and mortality, adjusted for potential confounding factors. METHODS Patients were enrolled into a prospective cohort study and followed up from 1991. This study retrospectively analyses the data captured in the prospective cohort study. The study population consi...

About 15% of couples that desire children are affected by infertility. Oxidative stress has been involved in unexplained subfertility with a male factor [1]. Although the excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is detrimental to human spermatozoa, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that ROS are also involved in the physiological control of some sperm functions. Unde...