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IntroductionThis study aimed to evaluate the benefits of adding electromuscular stimulation (EMS) to the flexors of wrist muscles on the nonparetic limb in conventional stroke training to strengthen homologous agonist and antagonist muscles on the paretic side in patients with subacute stroke.MethodsThe EMS group patients (n = 15) received conventional therapy for 30 sessions for 6 weeks (60 min/session) with 30 min of electrical stimulation to their nonparetic forearm using wrist flexors, with 5 min of pre- and post-warm-up. The transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) group patients (n = 15) received the same conventional rehabilitation training with 30 min of conventional antalgic TENS at a barely sensible level to their nonparetic forearm. The Fugl–Meyer motor function assessment for upper extremity (FMA-UE), functional independence measure (FIM), Brunnstrom staging of recovery for hand, maximum and mean wrist flexion force (flexionmax and flexionmean), and wrist extension force (extensionmax and extensionmean) of paretic untrained limb were evaluated before and after the treatment.ResultsEMS and TENS group patients improved similarly in terms of FMA-UE, FIM, and Brunnstrom staging for hand recovery. However, flexionmax and flexionmean of the paretic limb increased more in the EMS group than in the TENS group. Extensionmax and extensionmean on the paretic side increased in the EMS group but did not differ in the TENS group.ConclusionCross-education via EMS may have a beneficial effect as an adjunct to conventional treatment methods. This study is retrospectively registered and is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov (ID: NCT04113369).

The rheumatoid arthritis impact of disease (RAID) score was developed as a patient-derived composite response index for the evaluation of the disease impact on cases with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and performance of RAID score in the real-life settings. Cases with RA from our multi-center, nationwide registry called Biologic and targeted Synthetic antirheumatic drugs Registry RA (BioStaR RA) were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Demographic data, disease duration, pain, patient’s global assessment (PGA) and physician’s global assessment (PhyGA) were recorded. DAS28-ESR, DAS28-CRP, the simplified disease activity index (SDAI) and the clinical disease activity index (CDAI) were assessed as disease activity evaluations. The health assessment questionnaire-disability index (HAQ-DI) and RAID were completed by all the participants. The construct validity was tested by the analysis of correlations between RAID score and scores of PGA, disease activity indexes and HAQ-DI. We also evaluated the discriminatory ability of RAID to distinguish patients with different levels of disease activity and disability and the cut-off values were calculated by ROC analysis. 585 cases with RA were included in this investigation. The RAID score was significantly positively correlated with PGA, all disease activity indexes and HAQ-DI (p < 0.001). The discriminatory ability of RAID score in different disease activity and disability groups was also demonstrated (p < 0.001). To estimate DAS28-ESR (remission/low + moderate + high), RAID score cut-off points were 2.88 (sensitivity 73%, specificity 62%), 3.23 (sensitivity 75%, specificity 60%) and 3.79 (sensitivity 74%, specificity 58%), respectively. Our study indicated that RAID was a reliable tool in daily clinical practice by presenting its correlations with disease activity and disability assessments and by showing its discriminatory ability in these parameters in the real-life experiences.

Objective: Peroneal neuropathy is the most common entrapment mononeuropathy in the lower extremity. The common site of injury is around the fibular head where the nerve becomes superficial. Compressive pathologies are the most frequently seen etiologies. The treatment plan is designed according to the etiology. Electrophysiologic investigations are accepted as the gold standard for the diagnosis of peroneal neuropathy. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the etiologic factors and electrodiagnostic findings in peroneal neuropathy. Method: We retrospectively analyzed the etiological and electrodiagnostic test findings of patients with clinical features compatible with peroneal neuropathy, who presented to the Electromyography Laboratory of İstanbul Medipol University Hospital between January 2016 and December 2019. Patients with polyneuropathy or a disease that may cause polyneuropathy such as diabetes mellitus, those with lumbosacral radiculopathy or plexopathy, and those with neurodegenerative diseases were excluded. Results: A total of 30 patients with clinical features compatible with peroneal neuropathy (19 males, 11 females, median age 30 years; range 21 to 66) were enrolled in the study. Four (13.3%) patients had a comorbid disease. The median duration (minimum-maximum) of the symptoms was 20.5 (2-140) weeks. The affected side of the peroneal nerve was 43.3% right, 43.3% left, and 13.3% bilateral. The common cause of peroneal nerve injuries was due to compression (40%). Potential causes of compression in five out of 12 cases were iatrogenic. Weight loss was found in 10% of patients and one patient (3.3%) had a history of a recurrent ganglion cyst. Approximately 23% of lesions were due to traction injury and 23% of cases were idiopathic. According to electrophysiologic investigations, 16 cases were predominantly demyelinating without axonal injury. The axonal injury was detected in the remaining 14 cases (%46.6) and half of the cases with axonal injury were accompanied by demyelinating injury. Six cases had mild, 3 cases had severe, and 5 cases had a total axonal injury. Conclusion: Compression is the most commonly seen etiological factor in peroneal neuropathy. Electrophysiologic investigations play a significant role in the differential diagnosis, prognosis, management plan, and follow-up of recovery. Further detailed studies are needed to clarify the relationship between electrophysiologic findings and prognosis to form an algorithm for the treatment and follow-up.

Background. Psoriasis is a multifactorial immune-mediated inflammatory disease triggered by both genetic and environmental factors. The strong association between psoriasis and HLA-C⁎06 allele has been demonstrated in various races. The HLA-C⁎12 allele is closely related to the HLA-C⁎06 family of alleles and shares identical sequences. To the best of our knowledge, there is no information about the relationship between HLA-C⁎12 and psoriasis in the Turkish population. The present study aims to determine this relationship. Methods. This case control study involved 150 patients with plaque-type psoriasis and 145 age- and gender-matched healthy individuals. Severity of psoriasis was measured using the PASI scores of all patients and joint involvement was investigated with CASPAR criteria. HLA-C alleles were determined with a Tepnel-Lifecodes system. Results. HLA-C⁎06, HLA-C⁎12, and HLA-C⁎04 alleles were most commonly observed in psoriasis patients. HLA-C⁎06 and HLA-C⁎12 were significantly more frequent in the psoriasis group. HLA-C⁎06 was 4.11 times more common in psoriasis patients. An increase in PASI (Psoriasis Area Severity Index) scores was compatible with HLA-C⁎12 positivity. A need for systemic treatment was highly noticeable in patients with the HLA-C⁎12 allele. Conclusions. HLA-C⁎12 was found as the second most frequent allele with psoriasis in Turkish population and was associated with severe psoriasis. Our study is limited as we could not investigate other potentially related alleles other than HLA-C alleles and risk factors increasing severity of psoriasis.

Clinical and demographic data, including, age, sex, disease duration, body mass index (BMI), pain, patient's global assessment, physician's global assessment, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index, and Maastricht Enthesitis Score, were recorded. Additionally, the presence of comorbid conditions with SpA may decrease the tolerability of medications and indeed may influence the decision to use biological drugs.3 The extraarticular manifestations and comorbidities of SpA patients were found to increase disability and healthcare expenditures.4 The association of SpA with comorbid situations were previously evaluated.5\"8 Some of the recommendations/guidelines underline the importance of considering comorbid situations during the management of SpA.910 The main objective of this study was to evaluate the comorbid conditions of Turkish patients with SpA. The questionnaire contains questions about hypertension (HT), diabetes mellitus (DM) (including any complication related to DM), renal disease, chronic lung diseases (asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), pulmonary circulation disorders, thyroid dysfunction (hypo-or hyperthyroidism, any thyroid surgery, and consuming thyroid hormone replacement or suppressing medicine), cardiovascular system disorders (coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular events, and cardiac valve disease) gastrointestinal (GI) system disorders (peptic ulcer and GI bleeding), hepatic disorders, history of cancer, neurologic disorders (stroke, dementia, atlantoaxial instability, and spinal cord injury/cauda equina syndrome), psychiatric disorders (depression/psychosis). Three or more groups were compared by the Kruskal-Wallis test or analysis of variance (ANOVA) depending on their distribution.

Objective: Exercise is a cornerstone in the management of spondyloarthritis (SpA). The aim of this research was to compare the levels of physical activity (PA) and perceived advantages and barriers to exercise of SpA patients with population controls. Methods: In this cross-sectional study 200 patients (118 males, 82 females) and 100 controls (50 males, 50 females) were included. Levels of PA were evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form and perceptions of exercise were assessed using Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale. Fatigue, psychological status and quality of life of all participants were questioned. Disease activity, functions and mobility of the patients were also assessed. Correlations were analyzed between disease parameters and perceptions of exercise. Results: PA levels were similar on both groups. Of the patients 65% met recommended amount of exercise. Deterioration of psychological status and quality of life were associated with decreased PA levels of the patients. Patients reported fatigue and lack of time barriers more than controls. When disease activity, functionality, mobility, fatigue, psychological status and quality of life of the patients deteriorated, perceived barriers to exercise increased. Conclusion: Health professionals should focus on personal barriers to improve exercise behavior in SpA patients.

[...]of these changes, severity of the symptoms increased in 91 (32.9%) patients. The outbreak of novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has raised a concern among rheumatologists and patients for the use of such immunosuppressive agents. Since the beginning of 2020, this has been a new dilemma about the effective and safe treatment for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondylarthritis patients with bDMARDs. [...]the patients who could be reached between the study period in eight centers and received biological therapy were included. The first part questioned the general pre-COVID status of the patients including demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and working status; type of the rheumatic disease (RA or spondylarthritis); individual characteristics such as comorbidities and smoking habits; and treatment plans applied, such as the use of a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor, a non-TNF biological agent, a targeted synthetic DMARD (tsDMARD), and treatment duration.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability, content, and quality of videos for patients available on YouTube for learning how to self-administer subcutaneous anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) injections. We searched for the terms Humira injection, Enbrel injection, Simponi injection, and Cimzia injection. Videos were categorised as useful information, misleading information, useful patient opinion, and misleading patient opinion by two physicians. Videos were rated for quality on a 5-point global quality scale (GQS; 1 = poor quality, 5 = excellent quality) and reliability and content using the 5-point DISCERN scale (higher scores represent greater reliability and more comprehensive videos). Of the 142 English videos, 24 (16.9%) videos were classified as useful information, 6 (4.2%) as misleading information, 47 (33.1%) as useful patient opinion, and 65 (45.8%) as misleading patient opinion. Useful videos were the most comprehensive and had the highest reliability and quality scores. The useful information and useful patient opinion videos had the highest numbers of views per day (median 8.32, IQR: 3.40–14.28 and 5.46, IQR: 3.06–14.44), as compared with 2.32, IQR: 1.63–6.26 for misleading information videos and 2.15, IQR: 1.17–7.43 for misleading patient opinion videos (p = 0.001). Almost all (91.5%) misleading videos were uploaded by individual users. There are a substantial number of English-language YouTube videos, with high quality, and rich content and reliability that can be sources of information on proper technique of anti-TNF self-injections. Physicians should direct patients to the reliable resources of information and educate them in online resource assessment, thereby improving treatment outcomes.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most frequently occurring hereditary kidney disease, and axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) is one of the most frequently occurring rheumatic diseases. Treatment-related decisions for axial SpA may pose a challenge in case of renal involvement. The authors describe two siblings with cooccurrence of these two diseases. The association of these two diseases is not well known. Practitioners should monitor renal function in SpA patients and take treatment-related decisions regarding renal involvement. Antitumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-α) agents may be used in case nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) cannot be utilized.

In our country, it is a subspecialty after completing the residency in either physical medicine and rehabilitation or internal medicine. Since the number of rheumatologists is inadequate in our country, physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists are intensely interested in the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of rheumatic diseases in addition to musculoskeletal and neurological diseases. [...]they do not reflect the entire disease picture including impairment, limitations, restrictions, and social participation. [...]the ASAS Health Index, a composite index, was developed for the assessment of SpA patients at the basis of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Moderate disease activity (1.3-2) may also be a target for treatment because low disease activity definition does not exist within the ASDAS. Since low disease activity may be misperceived that there is no disease activity, the term 'moderate disease activity' was preferred to reflect low-moderate disease activity.22 Expert panel discussed whether a 'window of opportunity' period as it is in RA existed for ax-SpA or not. The improvement in MRI scores at the end of the first year was 35.2% in SSZ, and 69.2% in ETA groups. [...]studies on efficacy of SSZ in early stage are required.11,32,43 Recommendation 9 Use of bDMARDs (the current practice is to start with a TNFi) should be considered for the patients with high disease activity despite standard treatments (LoA=9.75±0.58).