Distinguishing fulminant perineal necrosis as a result of Wegener's granulomatosis from Fournier's gangrene.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E L Matteson.
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To assess the efficacy of low-dose methotrexate (MTX) given long-term for the treatment of autoimmune hearing loss, we performed a prospective open-label study of 11 patients with treatment-refractory autoimmune hearing loss. All patients had ongoing episodic worsening of hearing in 1 or both ears before enrollment despite traditional medical therapy. The MTX dose was 7.5 to 17.5 mg/wk. Hearing loss and vertigo were evaluated at baseline and at completion of the study. Hearing improvement was defined as an improvement in the pure tone threshold (PT) average of >10 dB or an increase in speech discrimination (SD) of >15%, whereas worsening was defined as a worsening of >10 dB in PT or a decrease of >15% in SD in at least 1 ear. The MTX was well tolerated. Among the 6 patients with Meniere's disease. 4 had improvement or resolution of vertigo, while 2 had no improvement. Disequilibrium improved in all 3 patients with Cogan's syndrome. According to the parameters defined above, hearing improved in 9 patients (82%), was unchanged in 1 patient (9%), and worsened in 1 patient (9%). Long-term low-dose MTX therapy may be a useful therapy for some patients who have hearing loss with a presumptively autoimmune-mediated component that is refractory to traditional therapies.
The management of rheumatoid arthritis has changed considerably during the past 15 years. Current strategies emphasize the need for early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention based on the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. The advent of agents that are more tailored to inhibit the specific disease processes will profoundly affect management. Immunogenetic studies may eventually assist in identifying subgroups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have more aggressive disease and who require a more aggressive treatment approach.
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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Prosorba column as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with active and treatment-resistant (refractory) disease. METHODS: A sham-controlled, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trial of Prosorba versus sham apheresis was performed in patients with RA who had failed to respond to treatment with methotrexate or at least 2 other second-line drugs. Patients received 12 weekly treatments with Prosorba or sham apheresis, with efficacy evaluated 7-8 weeks after treatment ended. Patients were characterized as responders if they experienced improvement according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) response criteria at the efficacy time point. A data safety monitoring board (DSMB) evaluated interim analyses for the possibility of early completion of the trial. RESULTS: Patients in the trial had RA for an average of 15.5 years (range 1.7-50.6) and had failed an average of 4.2 second-line drug treatments prior to entry. After the completion of treatment of 91 randomized patients, the DSMB stopped the trial early due to successful outcomes. Of the 47 patients in the Prosorba arm, 31.9% experienced ACR-defined improvement versus 11.4% of the 44 patients in the sham-treated arm (P = 0.019 after adjustment for interim analysis). When results from 8 additional patients, who had completed blinded treatments at the time of DSMB action, were added to the analysis (n = 99), results were unchanged. The most common adverse events were a short-term flare in joint pain and swelling following treatment, a side effect that occurred in most subjects at least once in both treatment arms. Other side effects, although common, occurred equally as frequently in both treatment groups. CONCLUSION: Apheresis with the Prosorba column is an efficacious treatment for RA in patients with active disease who have failed other treatments.
Autonomic failure and proximal skeletal myopathy are rare features of the Sjögren syndrome (SS). We describe a 51-year-old woman with primary SS who had development of esophageal dysmotility, urinary retention, severe orthostatism, and skeletal myopathy during a 3-month period after the diagnosis of SS. Her symptoms and signs responded well to corticosteroid therapy. Although dysfunction of the peripheral nervous system has a prevalence rate of 20% in patients with SS, most commonly the nerve dysfunction is a sensory deficit, and autonomic neuropathy is less frequent. Autonomic neuropathy due to SS may be underreported. The cause of our patient's myopathy remains undetermined. We speculate that the myopathy was due to either a form of polymyositis or an immune-mediated neuropathy with muscle involvement.
OBJECTIVE: Sjögren's syndrome (SS) has been associated with development of lymphoid malignancies and other significant medical complications, but the effect of SS on survival in a population based sample has not been reported. We analyzed survival in an incidence cohort of patients diagnosed with SS in residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, USA, between 1976 and 1992. METHODS: All records of physician diagnosed SS were reviewed, as well as all records from patients diagnosed with xerostomia and keratoconjunctivitis sicca, and records of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus. The case definition for SS required 2 of 3 criteria: keratoconjunctivitis sicca, xerostomia, or serologic abnormality. Confounding illnesses were excluded. All patients were white. RESULTS: Of the 74 cases of SS identified, 50 (67%) had primary SS and 24 (33%) secondary SS. An average of 7.2 years of followup was available for patients with primary SS and 9.9 years for patients with secondary SS. Compared with the general population, patients with SS had increased mortality (p = 0.04). When patients with primary and secondary SS were studied separately, increased mortality was found in patients with secondary SS (p < 0.005) but not primary SS (p = 0.86). CONCLUSION: In this population based cohort, patients with primary SS did not have increased mortality. However, mortality may have been increased in patients with secondary SS, the majority of whom had RA.
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OBJECTIVE: Restricted T cell receptor (TCR) gene usage has been demonstrated in animal models of autoimmune disease and has resulted in the successful use of TCR peptide therapy in animal studies. This clinical trial was undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of a combination of Vbeta3, Vbeta14, and Vbeta17 TCR peptides in Freund's incomplete adjuvant (IFA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, phase II clinical trial was undertaken using IR501 therapeutic vaccine, which consists of a combination of 3 peptides derived from TCRs (Vbeta3, Vbeta14, and Vbeta17) in IFA. A total of 99 patients with active RA received either 90 microg (n = 31) or 300 microg (n = 35) of IR501 or IFA alone (n = 33) as a control. The study medication and placebo were administered as a single intramuscular injection (1 ml) at weeks 0, 4, 8, and 20. RESULTS: Treatment with IR501 was safe and well tolerated. None of the patients discontinued the trial because of treatment-related adverse events. Efficacy was measured according to the American College of Rheumatology 20% improvement criteria. Using these criteria, patients in both IR501 dosage groups showed improvement in disease activity. In the most conservative analysis used to evaluate efficacy, an intent-to-treat analysis including all patients who enrolled, the 90-microg dosage group showed a statistically significant improvement compared with control patients at the 20-week time point after the third injection. Trends toward improvement were shown in both the 90-microg and the 300-microg dosage groups at week 24 after the fourth injection. CONCLUSION: IR501 therapeutic vaccine therapy was safe and well tolerated, immunogenic, and demonstrated clinical improvement in RA patients. Additional clinical trials are planned to confirm and extend these observations.
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Few syndromic associations with Crohn's disease are described. The aim of this study was to characterize a new syndrome of Crohn's disease associated with pachydermoperiostosis in 3 brothers. Three probands, 6 siblings, both parents, 20 of 21 third-generation relatives, and 9 spousal controls were evaluated. Serological evaluation for antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and human leukocyte antigens as well as genetic testing for tumor necrosis factor microsatellites, intercellular adhesion molecule 1 polymorphisms, the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist gene, and the interleukin 1 beta gene were performed. Only the 3 probands were affected and developed pachydermoperiostosis between ages 14 and 17 years. Pachydermoperiostosis preceded Crohn's ileocolitis by 6 and 20 years in two probands, excluding secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. Two probands were antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positive vs. 1 of 27 unaffected relatives (P < 0.001, chi 2). Haplotypes for human leukocyte antigen and tumor necrosis factor microsatellites were discordant. The probands' generation was homozygous for the common allele 1 of the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist and interleukin 1 beta genes. Two probands carried a rare polymorphism of the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 gene. A new syndrome of Crohn's disease and pachydermoperiostosis associated with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies is described. Inheritance is most likely autosomal recessive by pedigree. No clear association was found between this syndrome and the gene regions evaluated.