In patients with Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Raynaud phenomenon (RP) is frequently present and associated with pulmonary hypertension (PHT). Elevated pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP) is an indicator of PHT and can be estimated noninvasively. We attempt to explore the significance of RP in SLE and to correlate it with clinical and serological parameters of the disease.The study population consisted of 34 patients (age, sex and disease duration matched) who fulfilled the revised SLE criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, and were categorized into two groups: Group 1 had patients having SLE and RP (2 males/15 females, mean age 45 Ϯ 18 years) and group 2 had patients with SLE but without RP (3 males/14 females, mean age 40 Ϯ 14 years. Detailed cardiac ultrasound was performed including measurement of PASP, while clinical and serological features of both groups were collected and correlated. Significant differences were shown in the presence of arterial hypertension (P Ͻ 0.05), arthralgias (P Ͻ 0.005), arthritis (P Ͻ 0.05), myalgias (P Ͻ 0.05), alopecia (P Ͻ 0.05) and PASP (P Ͻ 0.0001). No difference was observed among the cardiac ultrasound indices and the ejection fraction between the two groups. PASP was significantly correlated with RP, while no correlation was observed regarding the disease duration.In patients with SLE, the presence of RP was associated with elevation in PASP. Further investigation is needed to clarify the significance of this relation. Lupus (2007) 16, 505-508.
OBJECTIVES:To explore the impact of Dupuytren's Disease (DD) on patients' quality of life (QoL) and identify implications for clinical practice. A search of the literature failed to identify a patient-reported outcome measure for assessing the impact of DD. The study was designed to be the first stage in the development of such a measure. METHODS: The needs-based model of QoL was adopted and unstructured qualitative interviews were conducted with DD patients attending out-patients clinics. Data were transcribed and then underwent interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to identify the key impact areas and common themes in individuals' personal experiences. RESULTS: Thirty-four DD patients (73.5% male; aged 41-80; mean (SD): 64.2 (12.5) years) were interviewed. The sample had a wide range of duration of DD (0.5-40; mean (SD) 12.6 (9.9) years). A total of 953 statements relating to the impact of DD were identified from the interview transcripts. These statements fell into 3 major categories of impact; emotional impairment (4 themes including having no confidence in hand and being embarrassed), activity limitations (10 themes including dressing, gripping and personal care) and QoL (11 themes including avoiding physical contact, self-consciousness and socialisation). CONCLUSIONS: Dupuytren's disease impacts on patients in three main areas; emotional reactions, activity limitations and QoL. In any trial designed to determine the benefits of new interventions for the disease it is important to ensure that each of these areas is assessed. It is intended to develop valid and reliable DDspecific scales to cover each of these outcomes.
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