Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0012833 (dizziness)
 9,689 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A prospective phase II trial was conducted to assess the feasibility, tolerance, and efficacy of a device designed for selective removal of rheumatoid factor from the plasma of rheumatoid arthritis patients. The device contained terpolymer hydrogel-coated plates with chemically attached, aggregated human immunoglobulin G, and it operated as an immunoaffinity column. Sixty-one patients aged 25 to 73 underwent weekly plasmapheresis treatments (the primary therapy phase). During the trial, patients continued current rheumatoid arthritis medications without dose adjustments. All patients received two to six treatments (primary therapy). Responding patients were eligible to continue apheresis treatment every 2 to 6 weeks (maintenance therapy). No serious, untoward side effects were noted in the course of this study; of 640 treatments, only 2 (in different patients) were aborted, one because of complaints of dizziness and angioedema and the other because of chest tightness and shortness of breath. Except for a significant (p less than 0.05) decrease in serum iron, no significant changes in complete blood count, serum electrolytes, renal and hepatic function tests, or serum C3 and C4 were noted. Although the trial was not designed to determine clinical efficacy, patients noted less morning stiffness, longer time to onset of fatigue, and improved global pain assessment (p less than 0.004); significant objective improvements were noted in joint pain, tenderness, swelling, and the number of affected joints (p less than 0.001). One-half of the treated patients had at least a 50 percent improvement in objective measures of antirheumatic activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Selective in vivo removal of rheumatoid factor by an extracorporeal treatment device in rheumatoid arthritis patients. 199 91

The efficacy and safety of minocycline was investigated in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had already received more than three disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Minocycline was administered at 100 mg twice a day to fifteen patients with active RA. The drug efficacy was evaluated by the clinical variables including the number of painful and/or swollen joints, the duration of morning stiffness, grip strength, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, serum concentrations of C-reactive protein, and the titer of rheumatoid factor. Three patients experienced adverse effects such as dizziness and abdominal pain or discomfort, but only one patient with abdominal pain and dizziness was discontinued. Fourteen RA patients, who had taken minocycline for at least 6 months, were subjected to the clinical evaluation. Among them, 8 patients (54%) showed a significant improvement of clinical valuables for disease activity, beginning even at 4 weeks of the therapy. The continued effects were observed in 8 patients with over 1 year-minocycline therapy. Intriguingly, an active patient with a history of multiple DMARDs-resistancy showed a marked favorable response to this drug. The present study indicates that minocycline may be an effective DMARD with highly safe performance for patients with active and refractory RA. This is the first demonstration of the benefit of minocycline in the Japanese patients.
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PMID:[An evaluation of efficacy of minocycline as an anti-rheumatic drug in patients with active and refractory rheumatoid arthritis]. 1004 18

A 24-year-old man was referred to our clinic in August 2003 with complaints of weakness, dizziness, and bilateral knee pain of 3 years' duration. Bilateral digital clubbing had been found on routine physical examination during his military service 4 years earlier. There were no cardiorespiratory or abdominal symptoms. There was no compromise in the activities of everyday life. The patient was not a chronic smoker. In the family history of the patient, his brother had been diagnosed with pachydermoperiostosis in another center 2 years earlier, but did not return to the hospital for a follow-up investigation of myelofibrosis. On physical examination, the patient showed marked drumstick clubbing of the hands (Fig. 1), and a pale general appearance. The causes of digital clubbing are shown in Table 1 (Fawcett RS, Linford S, Stulberg DL. Nail abnormalities: clues to systemic disease. Am Fam Physician 2004; 69: 1417-1424). Deep nasolabial folds were seen on the face. Skin hypertrophy, cutis verticis gyrata, and seborrhea on the face were also observed. The patient also complained of hyperhidrosis. Examination of the cardiovascular system was normal. There was bilateral swelling of the ankle and knee (Fig. 2). Hepatosplenomegaly was found on abdominal examination. Investigations showed hypochromic microcytic anemia [hemoglobin, 8.58 g/dL (normal, 12.2-18.1 g/dL); hematocrit, 28.1% (normal, 37.7-53.7%); white blood cell count, 3430/mm(3) (normal, 4600-10,200/mm(3)); neutrophils, 2470/mm(3) (normal, 2000-6900/mm(3)); lymphocytes, 820/mm(3) (normal, 600-3400/mm(3)); platelets, 162,000/mm(3) (normal, 142,000-424,000 mm(3)); mean corpuscular volume, 73.7 fL (normal, 80-97 fL)]. Anisocytosis, poikilocytosis, microcytosis, and hypochromia were observed on peripheral blood examination, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 37 mm/h. The serum C-reactive protein level was 50.1 mg/L (normal, 0-5 mg/L). Biochemical parameters, including serum calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphates and liver function tests, were found to be within the normal range. The causes of secondary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy associated with pulmonary, rheumatologic, endocrine, cardiac, and gastroenterologic disorders were excluded. Growth hormone level and thyroid function tests were normal. Antinuclear antibody, TORCH [Toxoplasma immunoglobulin M (IgM), rubella IgM, cytomegalovirus IgM, herpes simplex IgM] panel, and markers of hepatitis were negative. Serum Igs and rheumatoid factor were found to be within the normal range. There was subperiosteal new bone formation on bilateral knee X-ray (Fig. 3). Radiography of the chest, pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gas, and echocardiography were normal. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed hepatosplenomegaly. Amyloid deposition was not determined in rectal biopsy. Reticulin-type myelofibrosis was found on bone marrow biopsy (Figs 4 and 5). In the cytogenetic study, monosomy 22 was detected in four of 20 metaphase plates.
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PMID:An interesting case of pachydermoperiostosis with idiopathic myelofibrosis associated with monosomy 22. 1965 69

Secondary thrombotic microangiopathies are associated with several underlying conditions, with most of them being resolved after the treatment of background disease. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare microangiopathy presenting with anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neurological deficits, occurring most often in various autoimmune diseases due to inhibition of ADAMTS13 by autoantibodies, as well as in pregnant women with or without an autoimmune substrate. In this article, we report two newly diagnosed TTP cases, who have not been published so far. The first is a 27-year-old woman with a history of polyarticular rheumatoid factor negative juvenile idiopathic arthritis, who presented with thrombocytopenia, anemia, schistocytes on blood smear, headache, and active arthritis. Originally she was treated successfully with plasma exchange, intravenous prednisone, and vincristine, and a few months after the TTP episode, she was commenced on rituximab, resulting in remission of primary disease and no relapse of TTP. The second case refers to a 29-year-old pregnant woman complaining of dizziness and fatigue with microangiopathic hemolytic anemia. She was treated with plasma exchanges, intravenous prednisolone, and INN human normal immunoglobulin with full remission of the TTP episode. Six and half years later, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was commenced on interferon beta-1 alpha, with no recurrent episode of TTP. These cases broaden the spectrum of autoimmune disorders manifested or complicated clinically by TTP. Furthermore, biological agents such as rituximab appear to be an effective treatment option for refractory cases of TTP related to systemic rheumatic disease, indicating an alternative therapeutic solution in persistent cases of this disorder.
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PMID:Autoimmune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura: Two Rare Cases Associated with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis. 2879 Dec 86