OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to investigate and validate individual variables and to develop a composite score for disease activity measurement in patients with reactive arthritis (REA). METHODS In the first cross-sectional part, the clinical and laboratory evaluation of 45 patients was used to elaborate the most important individual disease activity measures. In the second pr...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate disease activity in early rheumatoid arthritis patients in daily practice 1 year after applying a tight control treatment strategy aimed at lowering disease activity (Disease Activity Score 28, ≤ 3.2). DESIGN Single-arm open trial with historical controls. SETTING Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS All new rheumatoid arthritis patients (onset < 2 years) attending...

OBJECTIVE To describe the association between rheumatoid arthritis disease activity (RA) and interstitial lung damage (inflammation and fibrosis), in a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD). METHODS A retrospective study of RA patients with interstitial lung disease (restrictive pattern in lung function tests and evidence of interstitial lun...

OBJECTIVE Iron therapy may reinforce intestinal inflammation by catalysing production of reactive oxygen species. The effects of oral ferrous fumarate and intravenous iron sucrose on clinical disease activity and plasma redox status were investigated in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). MATERIAL AND METHODS Nineteen patients with iron deficiency anaemia and Crohn's disease (11) ...

An investigation of clinical and laboratory variables which might form the basis for judging disease activity in clinical practice was made by six rheumatologists in a prospective study of up to three years' duration of 113 patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Decisions to start treatment with slow acting antirheumatic drugs were equated with moments of high disease activity. If treatment ...

AIM To investigate of pediatric ulcerative colitis activity index (PUCAI) in ulcerative colitis correlate with mucosal inflammation and endoscopic assessment of disease activity (Mayo endoscopic score). METHODS We reviewed charts from ulcerative colitis patients who had undergone both colonoscopy over 3 years. Clinical assessment of disease severity within 35 d (either before or after) the co...