Abstract: Introduction: Ocular lesions of Behcet’s disease (BD) progress by recurrent attacks and remission. Their natural history, without treatment, is toward severe loss of vision or blindness. We presented last year a work to the ACR meeting on the long-term outcome of visual acuity (VA) in BD. The data showed that the final VA was related to the baseline VA (before the treatment), suggesting that a delay in aggressive treatment may ...
Abstract: Introduction: Pathergy test (PAT) is used in the majority of diagnosis criteria set for Behcet’s Disease (BD). The modality of performing it (needle gauge, sharpness of the tip, direction of skin penetration, with or without a product injection), the delay to read the result (24 or 48 hours), and the cut-off line for positive test is not standardized. Therefore the results differ from one center to another, introducing a great ...
Abstract: Introduction: It is known from long date that some manifestations are seen more frequently in men than women and in some of them the difference may be statistically significant. The aim of this study was to address that issue and to find if a statistical difference was of any clinical relevance or significance Materials and Methods: All patients of the BD registry (4717 at January 20, 2002) entered the ...
Abstract: Pattern of Rheumatic Diseases in Iran: They have the same frequency and the same pattern as in Western countries. A study from 1993 demonstrated a prevalence of 32.6% among adults (31.4% in the USA, Cunningham 1984). Inflammatory disorders counted for 11% of all rheumatic diseases. The ratio of RA to AS was 8/1 (7/1 in USA), and SLE to Scleroderma 3.5/1 (3.6/1 in USA). Psoriatic arthritis and Reiter's syndrome were ...
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: The natural history of ocular lesions in Behcet's Disease (BD) is gradual progressions of lesions toward severe loss of vision or blindness. The association of cytotoxic drugs and steroids has dramatically changed the outcome. However, some authors still believe that the improvement is temporary and in the long run (10 years) the eyes progress toward blindness no matter what treatment was applied. The aim of this study was to ...
Abstract: INTRODUCTION: The natural history of ocular lesions Behcet’s Disease (BD) is gradual progressions of lesions toward severe loss of vision or blindness. The association of cytotoxic drugs and steroids has dramatically changed the outcome. However, some authors still believe that the improvement is temporary and in the long run (10 years) the eyes progress toward blindness no matter what treatment was applied. The aim of this study was to address ...
Abstract: Purpose: Cytotoxic drugs are the main therapeutic agents. A comparative study of 8 different therapeutic methods in 1220 cases is presented here. Materials & Methods: In an open, non-randomized control study, Pulse Cyclophosphamide (PCP), low dose PCP (LDP), oral cyclophosphamide ( OCP), weakly methotrexate ( MTX), chlorambucil ( CHL), cyclosporine A ( CYA), azathioprine (AZA), and combination therapy with LDP and MTX (COM) were used. Mean Duration: Ocular manifestations in months. FU: ...
Abstract: Background: In the literature, some of the skin pustular lesions of BD resembling the pustular lesion of acne vulgaris (AV) was called acneiform lesion of BD. It was suggested that AV was seen more often in BD than in normal population. AV is a common and very frequent skin lesion. The lesions are polymorphic, and are noninflamed (closed or open comedones) or inflamed (papules, pustules, nodules). Objectives: To find if ...
Abstract: Purpose: Cardiac involvement is not a common feature of the scleroderma, but may be important. The aim of this study was to find the frequency and the characteristics of cardiac involvement in sclroderma. Methods: Our cases were selected consecutively from 1997 to 1999, according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria. A complete cardiac examination (clinical, electrocardiography, chest X-ray, echocardiography, exercise test) was performed for all patients. These data were ...
Abstract: The prognosis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus depends partly on renal involvement. Lupus nephritis has evolved from a frequently terminal process such as type IV lupus nephritis according to WHO classification to one in which a fairly normal quality of life and good outcome are possible. The aim of this study was to try to predict the short-term outcome of type IV lupus nephritis by looking at the disease variables before ...