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Biomedical subjects

M Petri

Publications and source records attributed to M Petri.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

Morbidity of systemic lupus erythematosus: role of race and socioeconomic status.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if differences in morbidity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as measured by (1) important renal disease, (2) number of hospitalizations, and (3) neurologic disease can be explained by race, socioeconomic status (SES), or measures of compliance. DESIGN: The interrelationship of black race, SES, and the physician's assessment of compliance as risk factors for morbidity was examined in a cohort of 198 patients with SLE (179 female, 115 black). SES was measured with Nam-Powers scores for education (years), income, and job status, and source of insurance; compliance was assessed by physician global assessment and percent of protocol visits kept. Morbidity outcomes were important renal disease (creatinine level 1.5 mg/dL or greater, renal failure, nephrotic syndrome), neurologic involvement, and number of hospitalizations. SETTING: The Johns Hopkins Rheumatology Faculty Practice, in which both private and clinic patients are seen. RESULTS: Black patients had significantly lower SES on all measures (p less than 0.0001) and were also less compliant by physician global assessment (odds ratio [OR] = 0.39, p = 0.002). Univariate analyses showed that blacks had a higher frequency of important renal disease (OR = 2.07, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05 to 4.11) and hypertension (OR = 1.80, 95% CI 1.01 to 3.23). Important renal disease was associated with the physician global assessment of compliance (p = 0.009) and hypertension (p less than 0.001). Multiple regression models for important renal disease, including race, physician global assessment of compliance, hypertension, SES, age, and gender, identified significant associations with only physician global assessment of compliance (OR = 0.40, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.91) and hypertension (OR = 5.37, 95% CI 2.40 to 11.98); black race was not significant (OR = 1.60, 95% CI 0.68 to 3.76). The second morbidity measure, number of hospitalizations, was associated with renal disease, neurologic disease, mouth ulcers, duration of disease, and public insurance but not with black race, in the best log-linear model. Neither race, SES variables, nor physician assessment of compliance was significantly associated with neurologic disease, the third morbidity measure. CONCLUSIONS: These data fail to support an independent association of black race with morbidity in SLE; rather, they suggest that noncompliance (as measured by physician global assessment) and type of medical insurance are important factors in morbidity. Classical epidemiologic measures of SES (education, income, occupation) do not appear to be significant confounders of the relationship of race to morbidity in SLE.

Adult↗

Autoantibody tests in autoimmune thyroid disease: a case-control study.

Both positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) and anti-DNA antibodies have been reported in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease. We sought to determine the frequency of ANA and other autoantibodies in autoimmune thyroid disease versus control subjects. We measured ANA by 2 methods (mouse liver, HEp-2), anti-dsDNA, anti-Ro, anti-La, anti-Sm, anti-RNP, and anticardiolipin in 26 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 26 patients with Graves' disease, and 26 control patients. Positive ANA by either method were more common in patients with Graves' disease than in controls (p = 0.002 and 0.05). Although common (46.2%), ANA by HEp-2 method was not found significantly more often in patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis than in controls. Evidence for systemic autoimmune diseases was not found: patients with autoimmune thyroid did not have autoantibodies other than ANA and did not differ from controls in rheumatologic symptoms. Positive ANA using the widely accepted HEp-2 method were commonly found in both Graves' disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. No evidence of subclinical systemic autoimmune disease was found, either by specific autoantibody tests or by increased frequency of rheumatologic symptoms or signs.

Adult↗

The automated modified Russell viper venom time test for the lupus anticoagulant.

Antiphospholipid antibodies, both anticardiolipin antibody and lupus anticoagulant, are associated with a hypercoagulable state, manifested as thrombotic events and pregnancy losses. Multiple coagulation tests are available for the lupus anticoagulant, but few are in wide use. The modified Russell viper venom test (RVVT) is one of several excellent tests for the lupus anticoagulant, with high sensitivity and specificity. We present an automated method for measuring the RVVT and demonstrate its reproducibility.

Automation↗

Comparison of different methods of classifying patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

The sensitivity and percent agreement of 3 methods of classifying patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the 1982 American Rheumatism Association (ARA) revised criteria and a simple and full classification tree, were compared using data from The Johns Hopkins Lupus Cohort, a prospective study of 198 patients with SLE. The 1982 revised criteria were significantly more sensitive than the simple classification tree, correctly identifying 184 (93%) cases compared to 168 (85%) (p = 0.016). Agreement between these 2 classification schema was noted in 174 (87%) cases with 164 classified correctly and 10 failing to satisfy either criteria set. The full classification tree correctly identified 186 (94%) cases. There was no difference in the sensitivity of either the 1982 revised criteria or the full classification tree by racial group; however, the simple classification tree was significantly less sensitive among black than Caucasian patients (80 vs 91.5% p = 0.038). Our data support the continued use of the 1982 revised ARA criteria for the classification of patients with SLE for clinical and epidemiologic research studies.

Adult↗

Management of the pregnant lupus patient.

Increased understanding of SLE as it relates to pregnancy has allowed for many women with lupus today to have a successful pregnancy. However, pregnancies are high risk with up to 25 percent ending in miscarriage and with a high frequency of preterm delivery.

Female↗

Oral cimetidine improves the accuracy and precision of creatinine clearance in lupus nephritis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether short-term use of oral cimetidine improves the precision of creatinine clearance (CCr) and reduces the overestimation of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) that occurs with this test in patients with lupus nephritis (because creatinine is secreted by injured renal tubular cells). DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial. PATIENTS: Thirteen patients with lupus nephritis with mild renal insufficiency (mean serum creatinine, 230 mumol/L [2.6 mg/dL]; median, 106 mumol/L [1.2 mg/dL]). INTERVENTIONS: Patients were given placebo or cimetidine tablets, 400 mg four times daily for 2 days, with ambulatory 24-hour urine collection during the second 24 hours ("outpatient study"). Simultaneous 4-hour technetium-99-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid (Tc99-DTPA) and CCrs were measured immediately after each 24-hour collection ("simultaneous study"). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Use of cimetidine improved the accuracy of CCr, as measured by the CDTPA-to-CCr ratio (1.07 [cimetidine] compared with 1.33 [placebo]; P less than 0.05). Cimetidine use also improved the precision of CCr (P less than 0.05). In addition, when compared with standard clinical estimators of GFR, creatinine clearance with cimetidine rendered the most precise estimates of GFR and explained more of the variation in GFR estimation than did any other method (R2 = 0.78 compared with R2 = 0.52 to 0.63). These effects were shown under both simultaneous and outpatient conditions. No side effects due to cimetidine occurred. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with lupus nephritis, the cimetidine-aided CCr offers a compromise between the precise and accurate but expensive and inconvenient research techniques (inulin, iothalamate, or DTPA clearances) and the grossly inaccurate and imprecise but convenient technique (CCr) for determining GFR.

Adult↗

Accuracy of creatinine clearance in measuring glomerular filtration rate in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus without clinical evidence of renal disease.

We sought to determine whether creatinine clearance (Ccr) gives an accurate measurement of the glomerular filtration rate in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with no clinical evidence of renal disease. Eighteen such SLE patients underwent measurement of Ccr and 99mtechnetium-DTPA clearance (CDTPA). The mean +/- SD Ccr:CDTPA ratio was 1.12 +/- 0.15 (95% confidence interval 1.04-1.20). These results indicate that Ccr gives an accurate measurement of the glomerular filtration rate in the majority of SLE patients who do not have clinical evidence of renal disease.

Adult↗

[Randomized comparative study of secondary prevention of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in patients with acquired immunologic deficiency syndrome].

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is one of the most frequent infectious complications in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A prospective trial was initiated to compare azidothymidine alone with azidothymidine plus aerosolized pentamidine as a secondary prophylaxis for pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. 27 patients (24 male, three female, average age 39 years) were enrolled, 14 patients receiving azidothymidine and pentamidine aerosol and 13 azidothymidine alone. After 166 days of follow-up, this trial had to be terminated prematurely, since the efficacy of pentamidine aerosol in the prevention of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was clearly demonstrated in two recently published studies. Two patients died during the study period, one in either group, but neither due to pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Two patients developed histologically proven pneumocystis carinii pneumonia; both patients were allocated to the azidothymidine arm. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was suspected clinically but not proven in four patients, three were randomized in the azidothymidine arm. Pentamidine was well tolerated and produced no severe side effects. The sample size is too small to draw definitive conclusions concerning the efficacy of pentamidine aerosol in AIDS patients.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Anti-Ro antibodies and neonatal lupus.

The presence of antibodies directed against the Ro (SS-A) antigen is the strongest risk factor for the neonatal lupus syndrome. In most instances, the pregnant woman is asymptomatic; however, the presence of subclinical connective tissue disease and the subsequent emergence of overt connective tissue disease have been reported. This article will review the molecular biology of the Ro antigen, assays for anti-Ro antibodies, prevalence of anti-Ro antibody in normal people and patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and the clinical, immunogenetic and pathophysiologic features of the neonatal lupus syndrome. Finally, current concepts concerning treatment of pregnant women with anti-Ro antibodies will be reviewed.

Antibodies, Antinuclear↗

Pulmonary hypertension in systemic lupus erythematosus.

A prospective study was performed in our center on 60% (n = 36) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) to determine the prevalence and severity of pulmonary hypertension. Twenty-six healthy subjects of similar age and sex served as controls. Pulmonary artery systolic pressure was calculated from the sum of the peak tricuspid insufficiency Doppler pressure gradient and an estimate of right atrial pressure based on inferior vena cava size and its degree of inspiratory collapse. Five patients with SLE (14%) had pulmonary hypertension, defined as pulmonary artery systolic pressure greater than 30 mm Hg. Cardiac indices determined by planimetry of biplane apical 2-dimensional echocardiographic images were low or normal in the patients with pulmonary hypertension implying increased pulmonary vascular resistance as the etiology for elevated pulmonary artery pressure. The mean pulmonary artery systolic pressure in patients with SLE was 25 +/- 10 mm Hg vs 20 +/- 2 in controls (p = 0.002). No control had a pulmonary artery systolic pressure greater than 23 mm Hg. Patients with pulmonary hypertension had a shorter duration of SLE and steroid therapy and a higher prevalence of cytotoxic treatment and Raynaud's phenomenon in comparison to those with normal pulmonary artery pressures. The prevalence of systemic hypertension, interstitial lung disease, pleurisy, pericarditis, cutaneous manifestations, arthritis, renal disease, central nervous system involvement, and hematologic abnormalities was similar in patients with SLE with normal and elevated pulmonary artery pressure. Our study suggests that pulmonary hypertension in SLE is common but usually mild.

Adult↗

Serial assessment of glomerular filtration rate in lupus nephropathy.

In patients with lupus nephropathy (LN), previous studies have shown that creatinine clearance (CCr) overestimates true glomerular filtration rate as measured by inulin clearance (CIn), and that among patients the degree of overestimation is highly variable. We sought to determine whether the discrepancy between CCr and CIn remains constant over time (months, years) in each individual patient, and therefore whether serial measurements of CCr reliably reflect the direction and magnitude of change in CIn. Twenty-five patients with LN underwent simultaneous determinations of CCr and CIn performed two to four (mean 3.3) times over three years. In a given patient, it was found that the ratio of CCr/CIn changed substantially over time (mean SD 0.16 with 95% confidence interval of 0.12 to 0.20). Thus, in about 32% of cases the ratio of CCr/CIn will vary more than +/- 16% from a previously measured value of CCr/CIn. Patients with both high and low values of CIn showed similar variability in CCR/CIn over time. Variability in CCr/CIn was found regardless of whether CIn was increasing, decreasing, or constant over time. In nearly one-half of all measurements of CCr, the corresponding change in CIn was directionally discordant. Iothalamate and technetium-DTPA renal clearances correlated highly with CIn (R2 = 0.99). We conclude that the discrepancy between CCr and CIn can vary greatly over time in an individual patient. Consequently, serial CCr does not accurately measure the direction or magnitude of change in glomerular filtration rate in lupus nephropathy.

Adult↗

The histologic spectrum of prepuces from patients with phimosis.

Histologic examination of the prepuces removed from 78 consecutive patients with phimosis was performed during a 2-year period. In 15 cases (14.2%), the typical changes of lichen sclerosus et atrophicus (LSA) were found. A different, distinct histologic pattern of fibrosis was noticed in six patients (7.7%). Clinically, the two conditions were indistinguishable and presented as severe, nonretractable phimosis. The largest group of the patients (46.2%) had histologically normal prepuces, but clinically they too had severe phimosis. Since phimosis especially in young boys may regress spontaneously, and since on the other hand LSA may evolve into squamous cell carcinoma, we conclude that treatment of phimosis should be planned according to its histologic pattern and not according to its monotonous clinical appearance.

Adolescent↗

Mononeuritis multiplex: the yield of evaluations for occult rheumatic diseases.

We identified 35 patients who had electrodiagnostic evidence of mononeuritis multiplex and did not have diabetes or multiple nerve compressions. Their charts were reviewed to determine the etiologies of the mononeuritis multiplex and to determine how often the laboratory examination revealed a rheumatic disease in patients whose initial history and physical examination did not suggest that a rheumatic disease was present. In 11/35 (31%; CI = 17-49) a disorder capable of causing mononeuritis multiplex was diagnosed before the symptoms of mononeuritis multiplex began. Ten had a rheumatic disease; 1 had lymphoma. Nine of the other patients were suspected, on the basis of the history and physical examination, of having new onset of a rheumatic disease. Subsequent laboratory evaluation showed that 5/9 (56%; CI = 21-86) had a rheumatic disease, and 4/9 (44%; CI = 14-79) were unknowns. In 15/35 (43%; CI = 26-61) patients with mononeuritis multiplex, no rheumatic disease was suspected on the basis of the initial history and physical examination. The subsequent laboratory examination revealed an underlying rheumatic disease in 0/15 (0%; CI = 0-18). Mean clinical follow-up of 16 +/- 16 months in the patients with mononeuritis multiplex of unknown cause also failed to identify a rheumatic disease. Overall 19/35 (54%; CI = 37-71) did not have a rheumatic disease or any other known cause. Of the 14 patients with mononeuritis multiplex associated with a rheumatic disease, 5/14 (36%; CI = 13-15) had systemic lupus erythematosus; an additional patient had both lupus and the CREST syndrome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Biopsy↗

Overlap of granulomatous vasculitis and sarcoidosis: presentation with uveitis, eosinophilia, leg ulcers, sinusitis, and past foot drop.

A 24-year-old black woman with a history of pulmonary and hepatic sarcoidosis followed by foot drop presented with uveitis, eosinophilia, leg ulcers, and sinus opacification. Biopsy of the leg ulcer and review of the past lung biopsy revealed numerous epithelioid noncaseating granulomas and granulomatous vasculitis. Although her clinical presentation raised the possibility of Wegener's granulomatosis, the many discrete granulomas and lack of necrosis on her biopsies were more in favor of sarcoidosis. Although granulomatous vasculitis has been reported as part of necrotizing sarcoid granulomatosis, our patient was unique in the extent and type of her extrapulmonary symptomatology.

Adult↗

Antinuclear antibody, lupus anticoagulant, and anticardiolipin antibody in women with idiopathic habitual abortion. A controlled, prospective study of forty-four women.

In a controlled, prospective study of 44 consecutive women with idiopathic habitual abortion, only 5% had symptoms of rheumatic disease. Patients did not differ from control subjects in the frequency of positive results on tests for antinuclear antibody or anti-double-stranded DNA. Levels of C3 and C4 were higher in the habitual aborters. No patients had anti-Ro. The antiphospholipid antibody results were analyzed using 2 methods: the frequency of antiphospholipid antibodies was 9% by lupus anticoagulant using the Russell viper venom time (95% confidence interval 22-2.5) and 11% by anticardiolipin antibody assay (95% confidence interval 25-3.7), which was not significantly different from that in control subjects. However, the mean levels in the aborters (although within the normal range) were significantly higher than those in control subjects for anti-double-stranded DNA (P = 0.004), lupus anticoagulant (by Russell viper venom time; P = 0.05), and anticardiolipin antibody (P = 0.0007), when examined by multiple linear regression analysis corrected for age and concurrent pregnancy. Of the 3 patients with antiphospholipid antibodies and subsequent successful pregnancies, only 1 was treated with prednisone and aspirin. We conclude that, in the majority of women, subclinical lupus, anti-Ro, the lupus anticoagulant, and anticardiolipin antibodies are not associated with idiopathic habitual abortion.

Abortion, Habitual↗