However, methotrexate would continue to provide the basic framework of management of these latter subtypes of JIA; but JIA is a complex disease with a multi-factorial etiology. It is unlikely that targeted anti-cytokine therapy alone, no matter how promising it may look, would turn out to be the elusive therapeutic panacea in this challenging condition. Similarly, genetic associations of disease subset and outcome in JIA needs to be clearly defined by meta-analysis of comprehensive genome-wide association studies involving all ethnicities across the globe, as isolated smaller

high throughput screening studies bring out confirmatory as well as contrasting novel results as reported by Behera et al., in the current issue. “
“A 55-year-old woman with newly diagnosed Takayasu arteritis was followed for 7 years, during which time she underwent bare metal stenting, drug eluting stenting and coronary bypass grafting for critical coronary and renal artery stenoses. Interventions were initially successful but restenosis occurred within 24 months for all modalities. In contrast, native vessel disease was largely stable after the introduction of immunosuppressive therapy. We advocate a conservative revascularization approach in Takayasu arteritis in the absence of critical end organ ischemia and

early optimization of medical therapy. “
“Capable of multi-organ involvement in Sjogren’s syndrome (SS), cardiac findings of pulmonary effusion, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension are seen in patients with SS. Aortic stiffness Trichostatin A research buy (AS) reflects the mechanical tension and elasticity of the aorta. In this study, our aim is to determine if there

is any differences in AS and left ventricular function between patients diagnosed as SS and healthy control groups. We enrolled 50 patients with SS and 47 healthy volunteers with similar demographic characteristics. It was found that isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT) and deceleration time (DT) were significantly longer and early diastolic wave (E) was significantly lower in patients with SS, but there was no difference in the other parameters. When tissue Doppler echocardiography (TDE) findings were compared between the two groups, it was found that myocardial systolic wave (Sm), myocardial tuclazepam early diastolic wave (Em) and Em/Am ratio were significantly lower, and myocardial isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRTm) and myocardial performance index (MPI) values were significantly higher in patients with SS. A significant positive correlations between aortic strain and Sm (r = 0.35, P < 0.001), Em (r = 0.42, P < 0.001) and Em/Am (r = 0.26, P = 0.008) and negative correlations in IVRTm (r = −0.36, P < 0.001) and MPI (r = −0.24, P = 0.01) were detected. A significant positive correlation between aortic distensibility and Sm (r = 0.36, P < 0.001), Em (r = 0.44, P < 0.