Anthony Chen, Stephanie J Lax, Matthew J Grainge, Peter C Lanyon, Fiona A Pearce, Nick Jeffries-Owens, Sue Farrington
{"title":"GP consultations and prescribed treatments for Raynaud's: a survey among primary Raynaud's patients in the community.","authors":"Anthony Chen, Stephanie J Lax, Matthew J Grainge, Peter C Lanyon, Fiona A Pearce, Nick Jeffries-Owens, Sue Farrington","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae126","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae126","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae126"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11543524/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142627132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Saad Ahmed, Martin Lauran, Adaeze Ugwoke, Tom Walton, Chris Holroyd, James Galloway
{"title":"The relationship between Zoster serology, vaccination uptake and infection rates: a single-centre cross-sectional study.","authors":"Saad Ahmed, Martin Lauran, Adaeze Ugwoke, Tom Walton, Chris Holroyd, James Galloway","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae127","DOIUrl":"10.1093/rap/rkae127","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to assess the prevalence of Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) immunity, vaccination uptake and incidence of VZV-related events in inflammatory arthritis (IA) patients initiating biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>An observational study was conducted in a single hospital between March 2019 and December 2020. Ninety-three IA patients were included. Data were collected from electronic health records and analysed using the chi-squared test.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The majority of patients (91.4%) were seropositive for VZV, reaffirming the necessity for vaccination. In total, 8.6% of the cohort received the Zostavax vaccine, despite a small yet significant number of patients (4.3%) experiencing Herpes Zoster after initiating treatment. Multiple factors contributed to low vaccine uptake, including limited vaccine availability, discrepancies between the British Society for Rheumatology and Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation guidelines, vaccine hesitancy and concerns regarding vaccine efficacy and risks.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Significant VZV immunity exists among patients prior to targeted therapy commencement. Risk factors for VZV-related events include Janus kinase inhibition, increasing age and long-term steroid use. VZV-related events occurred exclusively in patients with prior viral immunity. Despite most patients having serological evidence of prior VZV exposure, our study exposes critical gaps between current clinical guidelines and practice, particularly in VZV vaccine uptake. Barriers to vaccination include inconsistent guidelines, limited vaccine availability and patient-level hesitancy. This is concerning as our cohort demonstrated small but significant rates of zoster, mostly among patients on long-term steroids.</p>","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae127"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11513334/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142522878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jeffrey van der Ven, Bart J F van den Bemt, Floor Ariaans, Johanna E Vriezekolk, Marcel Flendrie, Lise M Verhoef
{"title":"Support needs of gout patients and suitability of eHealth to address these needs.","authors":"Jeffrey van der Ven, Bart J F van den Bemt, Floor Ariaans, Johanna E Vriezekolk, Marcel Flendrie, Lise M Verhoef","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae125","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To investigate the support needs of patients with gout regarding information, communication, treatment and disease monitoring, and patients' views on and preferences for eHealth applications to address these needs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A focus group study using purposive sampling was conducted. Three focus group sessions with a duration of 2 h per group were held with in total of 23 patients using urate-lowering therapy, recruited from primary and secondary care. Audio recordings were transcribed, and data were analysed using thematic analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Eight themes were identified. Five themes addressed support needs of gout patients and suitability of eHealth in addressing those needs: (1) Timely access to healthcare, especially during flares; (2) (personalized) information regarding diagnosis, medication, and diet; (3) insight into uric acid levels and medication side effects through blood monitoring; (4) better coordination across primary and secondary care; and (5) self-management and shared responsibility over care for maintaining health. Three themes addressed eHealth in general: (1) receptive towards eHealth in gout care; (2) the preference for eHealth to have a complementary role (i.e. not replacing face-to-face) contact with healthcare providers; and (3) preferences on eHealth use and functionalities.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Patients expressed various needs regarding their disease management and projected a supporting role for eHealth in (self)management of gout. Addressing the needs and preferences of patients could enhance their understanding of the disease and treatment, self-management, and possibly health outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae125"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11494372/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142506996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alexia Leloix, Marion Hervouet, Émilie Chotard, Raphael Guillin, Pascal Guggenbuhl, François Robin
{"title":"A case report of a rare form of calcium pyrophosphate disease: sacroiliitis with soft tissue involvement mimicking an infectious disease.","authors":"Alexia Leloix, Marion Hervouet, Émilie Chotard, Raphael Guillin, Pascal Guggenbuhl, François Robin","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae123","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae123","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae123"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11520397/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142550089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Felipe J S Jones, Catherine Daley, Stephanie L Grach, Thomas G Mason, Marcus V Pinto
{"title":"Nerve pathology and cutaneous features of acute rheumatoid vasculitis.","authors":"Felipe J S Jones, Catherine Daley, Stephanie L Grach, Thomas G Mason, Marcus V Pinto","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae124","DOIUrl":"10.1093/rap/rkae124","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae124"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11502675/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142506995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tyler J Mills, Elizabeth Price, Vishal R Aggarwal, Francesco Del Galdo, Liz Walker
{"title":"Oral health and dental care challenges in scleroderma-perspectives of dentists, rheumatologists and patients.","authors":"Tyler J Mills, Elizabeth Price, Vishal R Aggarwal, Francesco Del Galdo, Liz Walker","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae121","DOIUrl":"10.1093/rap/rkae121","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The oral healthcare challenges of people living with scleroderma are poorly understood, yet frequently reported. This mixed methods study aimed to investigate oral health and dental care challenges associated with scleroderma from the perspective of dentists, rheumatologists and patients.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Dentists, rheumatologists and scleroderma patients in the UK completed a survey about their experiences of oral health, dental care and quality of life. People with scleroderma were also interviewed. We conducted descriptive analysis of quantitative data and used thematic analysis to examine qualitative data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 95.5% of patients reported oral and dental manifestations of scleroderma (ODMS); 57.1% reported high physical impacts, 53.8% high psychological impacts and 47.7% high social impacts. Only 13% of patients were informed of ODMS at diagnosis. No dentist or rheumatologist felt fully confident in managing ODMS. The most frequent suggestion for improvement among patients and dentists was increased information for dentists. We identified three key themes: significant negative impact on quality of life, barriers to accessing dental care and characteristics of good dental care.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>ODMS are prevalent issues, constituting a significant burden on quality of life. Rheumatologists should inform scleroderma patients of ODMS and embed oral health inquiries into annual reviews. Communication between medical and dental practitioners should be encouraged to facilitate early identification and management of ODMS.</p>","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae121"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11530228/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142569510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ted Yi-Eng Tsai, Alexander Podgorski, Anmar Al-Heilfi, Geraldine Hassett, Alexandra Gorelik, Rachelle Buchbinder, Kathryn Gibson
{"title":"Health literacy of rheumatology patients in three clinics in Australia and its association with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.","authors":"Ted Yi-Eng Tsai, Alexander Podgorski, Anmar Al-Heilfi, Geraldine Hassett, Alexandra Gorelik, Rachelle Buchbinder, Kathryn Gibson","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae113","DOIUrl":"10.1093/rap/rkae113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>To describe and compare health literacy (HL) using contrasting instruments of Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) and the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) in patients attending three Australian rheumatology clinics and their associations with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a cross-sectional study of rheumatology patients at Liverpool (Sydney) and Canberra public hospital clinics and a private Liverpool clinic using the REALM test and HLQ sociodemographic and clinical questionnaires. One-way analysis of variance and multivariate ordinal and binary logistic regressions were used to examine the association between HL and sociodemographic and clinical factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 278 people participated (111 Liverpool public, 112 private, 55 Canberra public clinic). Compared with Canberra, Liverpool patients were older, non-native English speakers, had less than a tertiary education and were more likely to have comorbidities. A total of 40% of Liverpool public, 29% of private and 13% of Canberra patients had suboptimal REALM HL scores (<i>P</i> < 0.05). Lower REALM scores were associated with male gender, <10 years of education, being born outside Australia/New Zealand and English as a secondary language, but was not associated with clinical characteristics. All nine HLQ domain scores did not differ across sites despite intergroup comparisons as stratified by REALM bands. Completing 10 years of schooling was associated with better scores in three HLQ scales: 'Navigating the healthcare system' (<i>P</i> = 0.009), 'Ability to find information' (<i>P</i> < 0.001) and 'Reading and understanding information' (<i>P</i> < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Patient HL as measured by the REALM differed across sites, explained by differences in gender distribution, country of birth, English as the primary language and years of education. HL as measured by the HLQ did not differ across sites and was more informative for understanding differing patient HL needs.</p>","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae113"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11512108/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142506994","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"VEXAS syndrome as a mimicker of ANCA-associated vasculitis.","authors":"Franco Murillo-Chavez, Brendan Antiochos","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae116","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae116","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Differentiating VEXAS syndrome from cases of canonical forms of primary vasculitis remains a significant clinical challenge, particularly for ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV). We reviewed the clinical features of VEXAS as an AAV mimicker, while adding three new cases to the existing literature.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We identified three cases of VEXAS with an AAV phenotype in our institution. We performed a comprehensive literature search of available similar cases and summarized and compared the findings. Inclusion criterion was a positive <i>UBA1</i> mutation analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patient 1 was referred for evaluation of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), but had no active respiratory symptoms, despite CT imaging showing widespread ground-glass opacities. Patient 2 had no history of sinus disease, despite being referred under the diagnostic construct of limited GPA. Patient 3 developed a novel inflammatory syndrome suspected to represent GPA. Six other cases were identified upon literature review. In all the cases, the most common findings were pulmonary infiltrates (67%), skin involvement (55%) and ocular manifestations (44%). Additionally, 44% of cases had renal involvement, with half of them displaying kidney lesions resembling the typical AAV pattern.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>VEXAS can mimic different phenotypes of AAV and should be considered in atypical AAV presentations, especially when refractory to multiple treatments. Further studies are needed to explore the immunologic basis for an AAV phenotype within the spectrum of VEXAS.</p>","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae116"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11479695/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142473692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mahmud Omar, Mohammad E Naffaa, Benjamin S Glicksberg, Hagar Reuveni, Girish N Nadkarni, Eyal Klang
{"title":"Advancing rheumatology with natural language processing: insights and prospects from a systematic review.","authors":"Mahmud Omar, Mohammad E Naffaa, Benjamin S Glicksberg, Hagar Reuveni, Girish N Nadkarni, Eyal Klang","doi":"10.1093/rap/rkae120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkae120","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLMs) have emerged as powerful tools in healthcare, offering advanced methods for analysing unstructured clinical texts. This systematic review aims to evaluate the current applications of NLP and LLMs in rheumatology, focusing on their potential to improve disease detection, diagnosis and patient management.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We screened seven databases. We included original research articles that evaluated the performance of NLP models in rheumatology. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were performed independently by two reviewers, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies was used to evaluate the risk of bias.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 1491 articles initially identified, 35 studies met the inclusion criteria. These studies utilized various data types, including electronic medical records and clinical notes, and employed models like Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers and Generative Pre-trained Transformers. High accuracy was observed in detecting conditions such as RA, SpAs and gout. The use of NLP also showed promise in managing diseases and predicting flares.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>NLP showed significant potential in enhancing rheumatology by improving diagnostic accuracy and personalizing patient care. While applications in detecting diseases like RA and gout are well developed, further research is needed to extend these technologies to rarer and more complex clinical conditions. Overcoming current limitations through targeted research is essential for fully realizing NLP's potential in clinical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":21350,"journal":{"name":"Rheumatology Advances in Practice","volume":"8 4","pages":"rkae120"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11467191/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142473690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}