Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M M Ivanova.
Diclonate P (sodium diclofenac, Pliva, Zagreb) was used in the treatment of 74 patients with rheumatoid arthritis as the basic antirheumatic drug. Analgesic and antiinflammatory activity and good tolerance of three dosage forms (tablets, suppositories, ampoules) of diclonate P were established on a statistically significant basis. In some parameters the drug compares very favourably with its chemical analogs.
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As many as 30 patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with the clinical signs of central nervous system derangement were examined. The mean age of the patients was 31.1 years. Using EIA, antibodies against cardiolipin (a-CL) were detected in 21 patients (70%). A-CL were revealed in all the patients with cerebral circulation impairment (CCI), choreic hyperkinesis, and convulsive syndrome. A-CL were discovered in 12 out of 18 SLE patients suffering from migraine-like headaches and in 4 out of 5 patients with mental disorders. Antibodies reacting with cardiolipin were mostly represented by the IgM isotype (80%) whereas a-CL-IgG were only identified in 13% of the patients, being associated in all the cases with a-CL-IgM. The high level of a-CL-IgG in blood serum was recorded in patients with the gravest patterns of nervous system derangement: CCI, occlusion of the retinal artery, psycho-organic and convulsive syndromes. All these patients demonstrated generalized reticular livedo. The high levels of a-CL-IgM were observed in SLE patients with choreic hyperkinesis and migraine-like headaches. Thus, the studies made it possible to trace the relationship between the development of certain neurological disorders (CCI, chorea, convulsive syndrome) in SLE patients and a-CL.
As many as 50 patients with reactive Yersinia arthritis were followed up. There were 4 men and 46 women. The mean age of the patients was 31.1 yr. The mean follow-up period was 30.8 months. In 72% of the cases, the disease was preceded by diarrhea. During the first examination, mono-oligoarthritis was detected in 78% of the patients. Extra-articular alterations (damage of muscles, ligaments, heart, skin changes, etc) were also recorded. The results of bacteriological analyses were positive in 22 out of the 50 patients. In 16 persons, Yersinia might be cultivated from the different biological media: blood, feces, urine, fauces, and synovial fluid. In 47 persons, arthritis took a chronic course. Persistence of antibodies of the types 03 and 09 seen for many years merits attention. Monoclonal anti-Yersinia antibodies were also detectable repeatedly. In 8 patients, in whom Yersinia were cultivated from a lot of the biological media, the disease ran an especially grave course. The role of circulating specific antibodies in patients with Yersinia arthritis and the trigger role they may play in the development of RA and ankylosing spondylarthritis requires further discussion.
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Molecular weight and concentration characteristics of immune complexes (IC) from 19 sera of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and CNS impairment have been obtained by the rapid nephelometry assay. Basing on cranial CT findings, the examinees were divided into 2 groups. Group I included patients with cerebral cysts and local dilation of subarachonid spaces, group II those with the above dilatation or that of ventricles of the brain. Small-size IC were registered in 14 sera, their relative molecular mass being under the values derived for donors and SLE patients without CNS affections whereas their level exceeded such in donor sera. Larger IC relative concentrations were seen in group I patients than in group II ones (34 +/- 13 and 18.7 +/- 12, respectively). Five patients failed to demonstrate IC. The presence of small-size IC in high concentrations may be considered a marker of CNS involvement in SLE, the highest concentrations suggesting local impairment of the brain.
Computed tomography (CT) of the brain was employed in 40 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Clinical cerebral pathology was obvious in 30 and absent in 10 patients. By CT cerebral symptoms were divided of 4 groups. Clinical symptom complexes of CNS defects and SLE were reflected on definite CT images, e. g. digital capillaritis, marked livedo. Raynaud's syndrome, disseminated erythematous skin lesions correlated with CT-shown focal damage to the brain. CT picture of enlarged subarachnoid space, ventricles and basal cisterns can be observed in SLE patients without neurological symptoms. This indicated likely subclinical cerebral affection.
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Asymmetric affection of the major lower limb joints is a characteristic feature of the joint syndrome in yersiniosis-associated arthritis. The sacroiliac articulations are frequently (47% cases) involved. In addition, yersiniosis-associated arthritis concurs with the signs and symptoms of systemic disease--gastroenterocolitis, myocardiopathy and myocarditis, erythema nodosum, hepatitis, urethritis, conjunctivitis, myositis and myalgia, enteropathy; changes in the CNS typical for the astheno-neurotic syndrome are frequently present. Comparison of the immunological assay data in complicated and uncomplicated yersiniosis shows equally high levels of IgG and CIC. High anti-DNA antibody titres are more frequently found in the serum of uncomplicated yersiniosis patients. ELISA quantitation of specific IgA, IgM, and IgG class antibodies in yersiniosis-associated arthritis patients demonstrated persistence of all the three antibody classes or of IgA-IgG combination in cases with most severe of the joint syndrome. In the presence of cardiac disease, patients were found to have high titres of antibodies reactive with the cardiac interstitial tissue, while in authentically diagnosed myocarditis cases with the sarcolemma. The investigation findings strongly suggest a high degree of involvement of immune and autoimmune processes in the pathogenesis of arthritides secondary to Yersinia infection.
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Characterization of clinicoimmunological subtypes of systemic lupus erythematosus was based on a detailed serological investigation of 90 SLE patients. Association between excessive formation of circulating immune complexes and the development of some clinical and serological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus including active lupus nephritis without the nephrotic syndrome, systemic vasculitis and Sjogren's syndrome was established.
Clinical, x-ray and scintigraphic investigations were performed in 34 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE): 24 patients with SLE complicated by osteonecrosis of the head of the femur (the 1st group) and 10 patients with SLE without clinicoroentgenological signs of aseptic necrosis (the 2nd group). Analysis of the results of scintigraphic investigation showed that the coefficient of radionuclide absorption in the SLE patients with suspected osteonecrosis (stage I) as compared to the controls and patients with stage II osteonecrosis of the head of the femur turned out to be significantly discernible (p less than 0.001). Thus, an early stage of osteonecrosis of the head of the femur can be reliably diagnosed by scintigraphy. Quantitative scintigraphy can be effectively used for dynamic observation and objectification of applied therapy.
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The authors presented the results of a 5-year follow-up of 50 gout patients who had been regularly (no less than 3-4 times a year) examined in outpatient clinics. Dispensary examinations of the patients resulted in a decrease in the level of uric acid and in the number of exacerbations of gouty arthritis, the reduction of the sizes of tophi or their disappearance. Regular examination and ultrasonic investigation made it possible to prevent in some cases attacks of urolithiasis, and to reduce 4-fold a disability time-period and to preserve working capacity in 96% of the patients. The study showed that in most of the patients with essential hypertension and coronary heart disease arterial pressure got stable and the number of angina attacks was on a decrease. The data obtained indicated a high efficacy and appropriateness of combined rehabilitation activities in gout patients.
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The authors presented an analysis of 10 cases of eosinophilic fasciitis (EF): 6 men and 4 women aged 18 to 55. In 4 patients the disease followed excessive physical exercise. Pronounced induration of the limb tissues with the development of flexion contractures, hypereosinophilia prevailed in the clinical picture of the disease, morphology showed a picture of fasciitis. A positive time course was noted in the presence of corticosteroid therapy which in 2 patients was combined with azathioprine and carbohemoperfusion. Besides, there was a patient with the combination of the classical signs of scleredema and EF. EF appears to be a nosological entity. The probability of combined forms requires a further study.
The paper is concerned with the results of a follow up of 67 patients with seronegative arthritis. The average duration of observation was 7.6 yrs. Diagnoses in 4 patients were established on a repeated clinicolaboratory and x-ray study: ankylosing spondylitis, Reiter's syndrome, Yersinia arthritis and gonorrheal arthritis. A picture of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis was noted in 16 patients (24%). In 47 patients arthritis remained seronegative. Of them in 30 patients a course of disease did not differ from that of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Considerable progression of disease was noted at the acute onset of disease with multiple involvement of the joints and a high inflammatory and immunological activity of a process. A morphological investigation of the synovial bioptates in 20 patients did not reveal a classical picture of rheumatoid synovitis even in a prolonged course of seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. The authors defined two variants of morphological changes in the synovial tissue in this group corresponding to a benign and progressive course of seronegative RA.