Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Omdal

Publications and source records attributed to R Omdal.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Coexistence of temporal arteritis/polymyalgia rheumatica and rheumatoid arthritis.

A patient with biopsy proven temporal arteritis/polymyalgia rheumatica and erosive rheumatoid arthritis is presented. Only 15 such patients have previously been documented in the literature. The coexistence has been thought to be extremely infrequent, but could merely by chance appear in far more patients than previously reported.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Anti-CD20 therapy of treatment-resistant Wegener's granulomatosis: favourable but temporary response.

Rituximab is a genetically engineered chimeric monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig)G1 antibody. It binds the CD20 trans-membrane surface antigen expressed by mature B cells but not by antibody secreting plasma cells, and removes the cells by activating complement, inducing cell-mediated lysis, and by apoptosis. Mainly used for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, rituximab has recently been tried with favourable responses in rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and other chronic immunological diseases. Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is a granulomatous vasculitis with high morbidity and mortality. It is thought that anti-neutrophil cytoplasmatic antibodies (ANCA) with specificity for proteinase 3 (PR3) are possibly involved in the pathogenesis of the disease. Conventional therapy with cyclophosphamide and corticosteroids generally succeeds in inducing remission, but relapses frequently follow. Among the biological agents, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitors have been tried with some success. Based on a case report we recently treated three refractory WG patients with rituximab and achieved almost complete but temporary remission. CD20+ cells disappeared rapidly in peripheral blood, only to rise prior to subsequent disease flares occurring at 34, 63, and 54 weeks, respectively (Figure 1). A new flare occurred in one patient at 86 weeks. At the end of the observation periods (54, 102, and 120 weeks), only one patient had proteinuria. Chest radiographs became normal in two patients, while infiltrates remained unchanged in the third. Granulomatous retro-orbital or sinus masses in two patients seemed unresponsive to therapy.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Inhalation of organic solvents does not promote synovial tissue inflammation in rats.

Organic solvent exposure is known to give rise to a variety of manifestations in the nervous system both in man and in animals. Cardiac and skeletal muscle can also be affected, and strange collagen-like diseases, arthritis and arthralgia have been reported. In this work PVG rats were exposed to inhalation of toluene, commercial hexane, an industrial steel primer, and a cold vulcanizer for 4 months. No signs of synovitis appeared, either macroscopically or histologically, and there were no systemic signs of inflammation as detected by increased acute phase reactants.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Intravenous and oral cyclophosphamide pulse therapy in rheumatic diseases: side effects and complications.

Twenty five patients (12 with systemic lupus erythematosus, 6 with Wegener's granulomatosis, and 7 with miscellaneous rheumatic diseases) who had been on intravenous or oral cyclophosphamide pulse therapy for more than 3 months were evaluated for safety of treatment. Side effects were reported by 20 patients (80%), mainly nausea (17 patients, 68%). Complications were observed in 13 patients (52%), of whom 6 had severe infections (24%). Oral cyclophosphamide given in repeated low dose pulses (5 mg/kg for 3 consecutive days) is better tolerated with regard to nausea than intravenous administration. The use of cyclophosphamide therapy is recommended in patients with disease that does not respond to conventional regimens, although the attending physician should be aware that infections may appear at any time during treatment, and effective prophylaxis against nausea is required.

Administration, Oral↗