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Introduction: Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a complex condition that is often refractory to therapy and is associated with impaired quality of life. In some studies, multimodal rheumatological treatment has been shown to be an effective therapy option for patients with systemic-inflammatory and degenerative rheumatic diseases. However, the effects of this therapeutic approach have not been sufficiently investigated in patients with FMS. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effect of a concise 9‑ to 10-day inpatient multimodal fibromyalgia treatment (MFT) using patient-reported outcomes in a German cohort., Methods: The effects of MFT were assessed using visual analog scales (VAS) for pain (P) and subjective disease activity (DA), questionnaires measuring everyday functional capacity (Health Assessment Questionnaire [HAQ], Funktions-Fragebogen-Hannover [FFbH, Hannover Functional Ability Questionnaire]), and pharmacotherapy at three time points (Visit 1: beginning of multimodal therapy, Visit 2: end of MFT, and Visit 3: 3 months after Visit 2)., Results: Sixty-one patients were enrolled in the study at the Rhineland-Palatinate Acute Rheumatology Center. Under MFT, a significant improvement in VAS (P) and VAS (DA) was observed between the start and end of treatment (Visit 2 versus Visit 1: median decrease from 7 to 5, p < 0.001, for both VAS [P] and VAS [DA]). Additionally, comparison of the other two assessment points showed a change in VAS (P) (Visit 3 versus Visit 1: median decrease from 7 to 6, p = 0.041, and Visit 3 versus Visit 2: median increase from 5 to 6, p = 0.004). However, there were no significant differences in FFbH and HAQ parameters among the three visits. Examination of the subgroup of patients whose medication therapy was not intensified during hospitalization also showed significant improvements in VAS (P) and VAS (DA) between the start and end of MFB (Visit 2 versus Visit 1: median decrease from 7 to 4, p < 0.001, for VAS [P] and median decrease from 6.25 to 4, p = 0.002, for VAS [DA])., Conclusion: These findings indicate a demonstrable benefit to patients of MFT regarding both pain and subjective disease activity. Furthermore, pain relief was even observed 3 months after the end of therapy. This shows the high value of this therapeutic approach to treating patients with FMS., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are rare diseases (incidence 1:100,000) with a wide range of clinical symptoms and manifestations. Typical indicators of IIM are proximally emphasized muscle weakness and myalgias, which are usually accompanied by elevated creatine kinase levels and muscle atrophy. The autoantibody diagnostics separate IIM into different entities, which are each associated with a typical risk of organ manifestations and the occurrence of tumors. The IIM represents an interdisciplinary challenge and the diagnostics and treatment require the involvement of several disciplines including rheumatology, neurology, neuropathology, dermatology and pneumology. An accurate diagnosis and careful tumor screening are essential because of the association between certain subgroups of IIM and the occurrence of malignant tumors., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a clinically heterogeneous autoimmune disease that is associated with great suffering for those affected, as well as high socioeconomic costs. Early diagnosis and adequate medical care are essential for a mild course of the disease. However, there is a lack of current figures and data on the care situation of patients in the area., Methodology: A total of 1546 general practitioners, rheumatologists, neurologists, nephrologists and dermatologists in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland were interviewed by fax or mail using a questionnaire regarding epidemiology, symptoms, therapy and therapy success. In addition, there was the possibility of making suggestions for improvement., Results: Five out of six of the 635 reported SLE patients were female. The most common main symptoms were arthralgia, fatigue, myalgia, and skin changes. Of the patients, 68% received antimalarials (AMs), whereas 46% were treated with glucocorticoids (GCs) and 50% with an immunosuppressant (IS), mainly methotrexate. In terms of comorbidities, patients suffered mainly from cardiovascular disease, fibromyalgia syndrome and depression. Rheumatologists also frequently described anaemia, diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis., Discussion: Compared with guideline recommendations, the low rate of AMs in therapy was particularly striking in patients not treated by rheumatologists (35% on average compared with 81% for rheumatologists). Additionally, (sustained) high doses of GCs are not in line with literature recommendations. In the free text field, the main requests were for more rheumatologists in private practice and faster appointment scheduling, as well as better communication and networking. In addition, the desire for more training and education was frequently expressed.., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Nailfold capillaroscopy is a rapid and easily applicable differential diagnostic technique that allows direct visualization of the microcirculation. Abnormal findings in nailfold capillaroscopy are closely associated with connective tissue diseases, such as systemic sclerosis. The clinical manifestation of impaired microcirculation is Raynaud's phenomenon, which is a classical symptom of connective tissue diseases. Nailfold capillaroscopy is increasingly used in various fields of medicine, therefore it is important to define methods for the acquisition and analysis of the results of nailfold capillary and to have a uniform definition of abnormal capillaries. This article discusses image acquisition and analysis, various capillaroscopic techniques, normal and abnormal capillaroscopic features and their significance, scoring systems and reliability of image acquisition and interpretation., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)

Background: Scleroderma or systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune rheumatic connective tissue disease. The clinical picture is manifold and symptoms can vary greatly between different patients. All manifestations are possible ranging from isolated skin involvement up to systemic disease with multiple organ manifestations. Due to this inhomogeneous clinical picture, it often takes years until the correct diagnosis is made and adequate treatment is started., Methods: Patients with the main or secondary diagnosis of systemic sclerosis (M34) between 2002 and 2017 were retrospectively recorded from the patient databases of the ACURA clinic for acute rheumatology in Bad Kreuznach and the data were evaluated. Of special interest were pulmonary parameters over the course of time. Furthermore, standardized questionnaires were distributed to general practitioners in Rhineland-Palatinate via the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians as well as to patients admitted to the hospital (2016-2017)., Results: A total of 135 patients could be evaluated. For women the median age of onset was 52 years (interquartile range, IQR 44-64 years) and for men the median age of onset was 49 years (IQR 38-54 years). Lung involvement was detected in 54% of the cases. Including the individual time to diagnosis, there was a significant worsening of the diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (73% vs. 56%, p = 0.046) between earlier (<4 months) and later (4-18 months) diagnoses, which also persisted in the follow-up (74% vs. 53%) despite adequate treatment., Conclusion: A rapid diagnosis within 3 months of the onset of Raynaud's phenomenon seems to play a key role in the preservation of lung function.

The current COVID-19 pandemic inherits an unprecedented challenge for the treating rheumatologists. On the one hand, antirheumatic drugs can increase the risk of infection and potentially deteriorate the course of an infection. On the other hand, an active inflammatory rheumatic disease can also increase the risk for an infection. In the recommendations of the German Society for Rheumatology (www.dgrh.de), it is recommended that our patients continue the antirheumatic therapy to maintain remission or low state of activity despite the pandemic. In this study, patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease were asked in the first weeks of the pandemic on their opinion of their immunomodulating therapy. The result shows that over 90% of the patients followed the recommendation of the rheumatologist to continue the antirheumatic therapy, and only a small percentage of the patients terminated the therapy on their own. This result was independent of the individual anti-rheumatic therapy. Taken together, the results of this study illustrate not only the trustful patient-physician partnership in a threatening situation but also the high impact of state-of-the art recommendations by the respective scientific society.

Background/objective: The majority of patients in Germany miss out on the necessity of early diagnosis and initiation of therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) caused by considerable structural deficits in the health care system. The challenge is to reconcile the individual demand for the best possible therapy result with a sustainable expenditure of resources., Methods: The cross-sectoral regional care network ADAPTHERA aims to improve early RA diagnosis and treatment in Rhineland-Palatinate. The retrospective triage analyses of suspected early onset RA patients was performed by tracing the selection process of all available enquiries (n = 1045). For analysis of the clinical course of the disease, a subset comprising 143 patients with a minimum observation time of 12 months (5 consecutive visits) was available. Clinical and laboratory parameters were collected quarter yearly, self-administered questionnaires were filled out and the treatment was adapted if necessary., Results: A total of 454 patients were included. The mean waiting time was 23.9 (SD = 18) days. The mean observation period in the subcohort was 29.2 (SD = 12.7) months, with about 50% of the patients presenting within 3 months. Almost 75% of the patients were in remission after 2 years. A sustained remission could be described for 74.8% (6 months) and 53.5% (12 months), respectively. Especially patients with rapid remission induction benefited in terms of longer remissions (p = 0.03). A very early stage of the disease (VERA) was associated with a rarely necessary biologic therapy (p = 0.022)., Discussion: The approach of a supply network is not a panacea, but it might improve healthcare for patients with early onset RA. In order to minimize resource utilization, a pinpoint referral and accurate triage of potential cases are crucial.

Background: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is one of the most common forms of inflammatory vasculitis in older patients. Because of possible irreversible vision deterioration, a fastest possible diagnosis and therapy is of absolute importance. To date, there are still no reliable data to obtain an initial assessment of the outpatient health care situation of patients diagnosed with GCA in Rhineland-Palatinate., Methods: The specialists (neurologists, rheumatologists, ophthalmologists and general practitioners) participating in the statewide rheumatology network ADAPTHERA were questioned with the help of a questionnaire regarding disease frequency, activity, drug therapy and possible comorbidities. In addition, the collected data were compared and supplemented by the ambulatory coding of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Rhineland-Palatinate., Results: Based on the information provided by general practitioners, 272 GCA patients were treated in Rhineland-Palatinate during the survey period. The average duration of the disease until diagnosis was 3.6 (SD ± 4.8) months. Drug therapy in the form of glucocorticoids was in first place followed by methotrexate, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and azathioprine. Cardiovascular diseases, chronic pain syndromes, depression, osteoporosis and diabetes mellitus were also described as comorbidities., Conclusion: The majority of patients with GCA are being cared for by general practitioners (GP). Long-term therapy and timely rheumatological co-treatment seem to be problematic. The primary care providers expressed their wishes for rheumatological training and further education measures. In terms of diagnosis and treatment, there is a demand to implement a "vasculitis fast-track" module.

Background and Objective: For patients with established rheumatoid arthritis and also early arthritis an increased prevalence of depression has been described. For a better understanding of depression in early arthritis patients, depression prevalences of a German early arthritis cohort were examined, with a focus on disease activity, anti-CCP status, disease duration and functional capacity over a period of 2 years., Material and Methods: The evaluation was based on the early arthritis cohort ADAPTHERA from Rhineland-Palatinate. The inclusion criterion was a symptom duration before diagnosis of a maximum of 1 year. Data from the disease activity score 28 (DAS28), the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ, functional status), the WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5, well-being and depressive symptoms) and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9, depressive symptoms) were collected., Results: At the beginning, 43.5% of patients had depressive symptoms (WHO-5 > 28). After the 2 year follow-up the percentage of patients with depressive symptoms had reduced to 20.8%. Correlations with disease activity according to DAS28 and the function of HAQ could be confirmed. There was no correlation between depressive symptoms and anti-CCP status (p = 0.431) or duration from symptom onset to diagnosis (p = 0.671)., Conclusion: Screening of early arthritis patients for the presence of depressive symptoms is of essential importance. Patients seem to be at high risk of developing depressive symptoms especially at the beginning of the disease and when showing high disability and poor results on disease activity score (DAS28 and visual analog scale).

The aim of the rheumatology network ADAPTHERA ("risk-adapted rheumatology therapy") is to achieve a comprehensive improvement in rheumatology care by coordinating treatment in a regional, trans-sectoral network. Accompanying biomedical research projects, training concepts, and the construction of a rheumatology register (gathering data and biomaterials) should furthermore ensure the stable and sustainable optimisation of care. In the pilot phase (2012-2015) the focus of the ADAPTHERA network, required as a "regional key project" within the framework of the Initiative on Health Economy of Rheinland-Palatinate (RL-P), Germany, was placed on the optimisation of the early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, where it is well-known that there is a significant care deficit.Through the intensive, stable, and coordinated cooperation of all health care partners in the field of rheumatology (registered general practitioners and orthopaedic specialists, registered core rheumatologists as well as the Association of Rheumatology of RL-P) a unique regional, comprehensive offer with verifiable care optimisation has been established in RL-P. The network is supported by outstanding collaboration with the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians and the self-help organisation Rheumatology League.The aims that were established at the start of the project will be achieved by the end of the pilot phase:- significant improvement in the early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (an average of 23.7 days until diagnosis by rheumatologists)- access covering all health insurance (regardless of the particular scheme the patients belong to)- comprehensive (verifiable participation of general practitioners from all over RL-P)- data and biomaterials collection, established as a basis for biomarker research, and a rheumatology register for RL-P.