The rate of complications, length of stay, and costs associated with surgery for lumbar spinal stenosis differ for African-American patients compared with white patients.
For patients with early rheumatoid arthritis, being overweight or obese is associated with an increased likelihood of not achieving remission.
For patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the median time to discontinuation of therapy is 25.1 months, with longer time to discontinuation noted for those receiving tumor necrosis factor inhibitors.
Neurological testing procedures have limited diagnostic accuracy for detecting disc herniation with suspected radiculopathy.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis undergoing total knee replacement have outcomes at two years similar to those seen in patients with osteoarthritis; while for total hip replacement, two-year pain and function is significantly worse for those with rheumatoid arthritis vs. osteoarthritis.
There is considerable variability associated with total knee arthroplasty recommendations.
Xgeva (denosumab; Amgen) has been approved for the treatment of unresectable giant cell tumor of the bone (GCTB) in adult and adolescent patients.
Janssen Biotech announced data from three Phase 3 trials, GO-FORWARD, GO-BEFORE, and GO-AFTER evaluating Simponi 50mg administered subcutaneously once every four weeks in the treatment of moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis.
Disc-level canal diameter determined from magnetic resonance imaging can identify patients at risk for acute spinal cord injury after minor trauma.
Celgene announced positive long-term data from PALACE 1, the first of four Phase 3 studies evaluating patients with psoriatic arthritis.
Results from a Phase 3b head-to-head study showed that abatacept had comparable efficacy to adalimumab in patients with active moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis.
In patients with radiculopathy or neurogenic claudication due to compression of spinal nerves, lumbar epidural steroid injections increase the risk of vertebral fractures.
For patients with multilevel lumbar stenosis and single-level degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS), surgical outcomes are not significantly different with decompression and single-level or multilevel fusion.
In patients with suspected vertebral compression fractures, the addition of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reduces the rate of misdiagnosis of acute lesions and hidden lesions before percutaneous cement augmentation procedures.
Preoperative depression influences self-reported patient satisfaction after revision lumbar surgery, independent of the surgery's effectiveness.
The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) diclofenac is associated with significantly increased vascular risk, comparable to that of selective COX-2 inhibitors (coxibs).
Morbid obesity complicates treatment of spine trauma, including imaging quality, surgical challenges, and postoperative nursing care.
The FDA has granted Alexion's first-in-class enzyme replacement therapy, asfotase alfa, breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with hypophosphatasia.
Sandoz is recalling two lots of Methotrexate Sodium injectable after discovering particulate matter in the vials.
Short-term therapy with vitamin C at modest doses did not have a clinically significant effect on lowering urate levels in patients with gout.
Increased loading of the lumbar spine, arising from lifestyle activities, could contribute to the degenerative process and lead to development of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.
The presence of retrolisthesis in patients undergoing decompressive surgery for a lumbar disc herniation may result in significantly worse lower back pain and physical function over four years.
Combination therapy with teriparatide and denosumab may be most effective in treating postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at risk for fracture.
Compared to clinical diagnosis of synovitis, ultrasound-detected synovitis provides either improved sensitivity or specificity when used with the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria for identifying patients with a disease requiring methotrexate (MTX) treatment.
Adolescents with untreated adolescent idiopathic scoliosis report worse pain and worse self-image than unaffected adolescents, although the difference is clinically significant only for self-image.
Ilaris is the first interleukin-1 beta inhibitor approved for the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Atriphen has been recalled due to the possibility of causing a severe allergic reaction from two undeclared allergens.
Magnesium, but not calcium, intake seems to be associated with total bone mineral content and density among young children.
Nonelderly, older adults with lumbar spinal stenosis have a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension than those without stenosis.
>30% of women fail to pick up new prescriptions for osteoporosis medications.
In patients undergoing primary joint arthroplasty, neuraxial anesthesia is associated with better postoperative outcomes than general anesthesia.
Increases in the upper thoracic scoliotic curve, thoracic kyphosis, and number of rod-lengthening procedures are risk factors for postoperative complications associated with growing-rod (GR) surgery for early-onset scoliosis (EOS).
There is a need for a consensus on criteria to define and classify lumbar spinal stenosis.
Even light smoking increases the risk of rheumatoid arthritis among women, and smoking cessation reduces but does not eliminate this risk.
A model including ultrasound assessment of the wrist, metacarpophalangeal, ankle, and metatarsophalangeal joints is highly sensitive for detecting B-mode and Doppler joint inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
UCB announced the introduction of Cimzia Starter Kit for induction dosing. Cimzia is a pegylated anti-TNF indicated for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn's disease.
For women with rheumatoid arthritis, exposure to methotrexate is associated with a reduced risk of induced abortions.
Abdominal computed tomography imaging, conducted for other indications, can be used to identify patients with osteoporosis.
For patients undergoing surgery for lumbar herniated intervertebral disc disease, reoperation rates reach 13.4% after five years, with more than half of reoperations occurring in the first year.
For patients with knee osteoarthritis, use of flat, flexible footwear (mobility shoes) for six months is associated with significant improvements in knee adduction moment.
For patients undergoing lumbar spine stenosis decompression surgery with or without fusion, the one-year readmission rate is 9.7% or 7.2%, respectively.
For patients undergoing surgical treatment of spinal stenosis, lumbar fusion and instrumentation do not increase the rate of reoperation at index or adjacent levels compared with nonfusion techniques.
For octogenarian patients with lumbar disc herniation, unilateral laminectomy and discectomy seems safe and effective.
For pediatric dialysis patients, growth hormone therapy is associated with an increased rate of bone formation and results in greater increases in height.
AstraZeneca announced top-line results for Oral SYK Inhibition in Rheumatoid Arthritis (OSKIRA-1), a Phase 3 study assessing the safety and efficacy of fostamatinib, the first oral spleen tyrosine kinase inhibitor in development for rheumatoid arthritis.
Hormonal changes, especially testosterone, precede the onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in men and may influence the type of RA.
Patients with diabetes who have longstanding diabetes, poor glycemic control, and use insulin had suboptimal improvements in clinical outcomes after lumbar spine surgery.
BioMarin has submitted a Biologics License Application to the FDA for Vimizim, an enzyme replacement therapy under evaluation for the treatment of patients with rare lysosomal storage disorder Mucopolysaccaridosis Type IVA, also called Morquio A Syndrome.
Single-level instrumented anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is durable and cost-effective after five years of follow-up.
A substantially high number of patients undergoing spinal fusion have a vitamin D deficiency or inadequacy.
Short stature in childhood warrants evaluation, and various treatment options should be considered.
Researchers found substantial overuse of lumbar MRI scans. Less than half of lumbar spine MRIs were considered appropriate, with the remainder either inappropriate or of uncertain value.
Cancer patients with high weight loss, low muscle index, and low muscle attenuation have a poor prognosis--regardless of body mass index.
Elevated blood cobalt concentrations are associated with an increased risk of early joint failure in metal-on-metal hip resurfacings secondary to the development of an adverse local tissue response.
For Chinese women, the age of menarche and menopause is not related to the risk of diabetes, but does correlate with cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis.
Surgery for patients with early-onset scoliosis is associated with an 18% mortality rate and an 84% complication rate. Patients had been diagnosed with congenital scoliosis, syndromic and chromosomal abnormalities, cerebral palsy, and spinal muscular atrophy.
The prevalence of total knee replacement is estimated at 4.2% for U.S. adults aged 50 years or older. The prevalence increased with age and was higher among females (4.8%) than males (3.4%).
No association exists between maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and bone mineral content in offspring who are 9-10 years old, according to a new study.
For patients treated for sciatica and lumbar-disc herniation, an MRI performed at one year does not distinguish between those with and without favorable outcome.
Pennsylvania researchers have found that the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System, when used for anterior lumbar interbody fusion, resulted in better visualization inside the disc space and surrounding structures than with current techniques.
For patients undergoing scoliosis surgery, the risk of massive blood loss is increased with preoperative Cobb angles above 50 degrees and for those undergoing osteotomy or fusion above 6 levels.
A new study shows nursing home residents using a nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic drug are at an increased risk for hip fractures, particularly new users of the drug or those with impairments.
Joint hypermobility (JH) increases the risk of musculoskeletal pain in adolescence, particularly in the shoulder, knee, and ankle/foot.
For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory diseases, use of anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy is not associated with an increased risk of herpes zoster.
The use of epidural steroid injections (ESIs) may be linked to worse outcomes over four years in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis whether they are treated surgically or nonsurgically.
The effect of osteoporosis therapies (bisphosphonate drugs and intermittent parathyroid hormone [PTH]) on spinal fusion is unclear.
For patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, diabetes (with or without poor glycemic control) is not associated with adverse surgical outcomes.
As part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has issued a list of the top five tests and treatments commonly misordered by rheumatologists.
Antares Pharma announced that the FDA has accepted for review their New Drug Application (NDA) for Otrexup, a potential new product for the SQ delivery of methotrexate (MTX) using Medi-Jet technology.
After adjustment, implant failure is more likely for women than men who undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA).
Higher serum concentrations of two endocrine disrupting chemicals, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), are associated with nearly twice the risk of osteoarthritis in women, but not men.
Implementation of a quality improvement program correlates with a sustained reduction in unnecessary referrals for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).
In persons with or at risk for radiographic knee osteoarthritis (RKOA), African-Americans are 72-76% less likely than whites to meet the 2008 United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Physical Activity Guidelines aerobic component.
For patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty, use of general anesthesia is associated with a significant increase in complications compared with spinal anesthesia.
Data from the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) for osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) care in Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries show that up to one-quarter of physicians provided reasons in the system explaining why care was considered but not provided.
For U.S. veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with worse patient-reported outcomes and tender joint counts.
In a cohort of older women, exposure to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) light is associated with a significantly reduced risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but this relationship is not seen among younger women.
Obese patients derive less benefit from both operative and non-operative lumbar disc herniation treatment.
Risk factors have been identified for medical complications following cervical spine surgery, with cardiac and pulmonary complications correlating with death within two years.
Spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) is no more effective a treatment for acute low back pain than inert interventions, sham SMT, or as adjunct therapy.
Minimally invasive (MIS) and open multilevel hemilaminectomy are similar with respect to cost and improved quality of life measures for the treatment of degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis.
Requiring patients interested in spinal surgery to first see a rehabilitation physician reduces the number of spinal surgeries, reduces costs, and leaves patients largely satisfied.
Patients undergoing inpatient lumbar discectomy have significantly higher overall complication rates than those treated as outpatients.
The July influx of new residents has a minimal effect on peri-procedural outcomes for patients undergoing spinal surgery.
For patients with musculoskeletal problems, PhysioDirect, a service which invites patients to telephone a physical therapist for initial assessment and advice, followed by face-to-face physical therapy if necessary, is similarly effective to usual care, but is associated with slightly lower patient satisfaction.
Using a two-surgeon strategy for pedicle subtraction osteotomies is associated with better outcomes.
Between 2000 and 2008, there was a nearly 108% increase in the number of Medicare recipients receiving spinal interventional techniques.
Tofacitinib slows the progression of joint damage and improves disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Overweight African-American women with or at risk of knee osteoarthritis are at higher risk than overweight white women of poor functional outcomes.
Mallinckrodt announced that the FDA has approved Gablofen (baclofen injection) prefilled syringes.
Following lumbar laminectomy, loss of strength and shear stiffness (SS) can be predicted in the human lumbar spinal segment using measurable parameters.
Driving reaction times (DRTs), which are increased for patients with radiculopathy, improve after lumbar disc surgery.
For adults with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA), vitamin D supplementation for two years does not reduce knee pain or cartilage volume loss compared to placebo.
Although total disc replacement for chronic low back pain due to degenerative disc disease yields statistically significant improvements compared to conventional fusion, the clinical relevance is unclear and conclusions regarding effectiveness are hampered by low quality evidence and short follow-up.
Children with arthritis who use a Web-based application to monitor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) have more discussions with their rheumatologist about psychosocial issues, and their physicians are more satisfied with the care provided during consultations.
Nearly half of all patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) initially without any cervical spine instabilities will develop some type of instability within about five years.
For patients with an osteoporotic fracture, adherence to bisphosphonate treatment is associated with reduced fracture risk; and for veterans with rheumatoid arthritis, non-adherence to bisphosphonate treatment is >50%.
Almost half of patients whose primary care physicians recommend a lumbosacral or cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan go on to receive a surgical consultation, but few end up undergoing spinal surgery.
Electrophysiological abnormalities have been identified that are of some prognostic value in determining deteriorating clinical status over the long term for patients with mild-to-moderate lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).
Dietary vitamin D intake during adolescence does not appear to be associated with the risk of adult-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).