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Objective To determine the effect of alendronate (ALN) and teriparatide on trabecular bone score (TBS) in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis. Methods Patients with chronic glucocorticoid therapy–induced osteoporosis (median 7.5 mg/day prednisone equivalent for ≥90 days) were randomized to receive oral ALN 10 mg/day (n = 214) or subcutaneous teriparatide 20 μg/day (n = 214) for 36 months; 118 patients in the ALN group and 123 patients in the teriparatide group completed treatment. Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) results for 53 patients receiving ALN and 56 patients receiving teriparatide who had DXA scans with adequate resolution to perform TBS analysis and completed 36 months of therapy were blindly analyzed for TBS at baseline and 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months. Results In teriparatide-treated patients, TBS was significantly increased at 18 months compared to baseline, and by 36 months had increased 3.7% (P

The hand is commonly affected by osteoarthritis (OA). The development and progression of OA are believed to involve inflammation, even in the early stages of the disease. Inflammatory and proinflammatory cytokines have also been shown to be elevated in the flexor tenosynovium of idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). A large percentage of patients with hand OA also have a concomitant CTS. This study evaluated the results of a pulsed electrical joint stimulator in patients who had hand OA with or without CTS. Pain, tenderness, and swelling; grip strength and pinch force; and Patient and Physician Global Assessment and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) results were evaluated. The primary efficacy outcome was pain due to OA in the study hand in the past 48 hours. Secondary outcomes consisted of OA pain in the study thumb in the past 48 hours, grip strength, pinch force, and Patient and Physician Global Assessment and DASH results. All 7 outcome parameters improved in OA patients. On physical examination, individual finger and wrist joints had also improved regarding pain, swelling, and tenderness. In the subset of patients with CTS, CTS pain, paresthesia, weakness, and all CTS symptoms had significantly improved. Patient and Physician Global Assessment and DASH results and pinch force were also significantly improved. This pulsed electrical joint stimulator is effective in providing clinically relevant and statistically significant reductions in the signs and symptoms of OA of the hand and CTS. It could be a useful modality for the treatment of patients who have one of these conditions or both. [ Orthopedics . 2018; 41(4):e550–e556.]

To determine the effect of alendronate (ALN) and teriparatide on trabecular bone score (TBS) in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.Patients with chronic glucocorticoid therapy-induced osteoporosis (median 7.5 mg/day prednisone equivalent for ≥90 days) were randomized to receive oral ALN 10 mg/day (n = 214) or subcutaneous teriparatide 20 μg/day (n = 214) for 36 months; 118 patients in the ALN group and 123 patients in the teriparatide group completed treatment. Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) results for 53 patients receiving ALN and 56 patients receiving teriparatide who had DXA scans with adequate resolution to perform TBS analysis and completed 36 months of therapy were blindly analyzed for TBS at baseline and 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months.In teriparatide-treated patients, TBS was significantly increased at 18 months compared to baseline, and by 36 months had increased 3.7% (P 0.05). In ALN-treated patients, there was not a significant change in TBS compared to baseline at any time point. Changes in lumbar spine bone mineral density (BMD) measured by DXA in the subgroup with TBS data were similar to BMD results in the overall study population. At 36 months, increases in lumbar spine BMD were 5.5% and 10.3% in patients treated with ALN and teriparatide, respectively.In patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis, both ALN and teriparatide increased lumbar spine BMD. However, trabecular bone score significantly increased with teriparatide but did not significantly change with ALN. The pathogenesis of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis is predominantly reduced bone formation. TBS may represent a sensitive measure to discriminate treatment effects of an anabolic versus an antiresorptive drug in glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.

Medical treatments and less invasive surgical approaches for knee osteoarthritis are variably effective, and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is generally reserved for the most severe cases. The care gap between more conservative treatments and TKA leaves many patients with unresolved pain and loss of function for long periods. We conducted a study to determine if incorporating the BioniCare stimulator into an unloading brace would produce more rapid improvement and result in increased adherence and efficacy. Two hundred eighty-nine patients treated only with BioniCare served as historical controls and were compared with 225 patients treated with BioniCare combined with an unloading brace. Means and standard deviations of the changes in scores for pain intensity in the past 48 hours, pain and associated symptoms, patient global assessment, pain on going up or down stairs, and pain on walking on a flat surface and the effect sizes at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, as well as the percentages of patients achieving at least 20% improvement, and at least 50% improvement, demonstrated that treatment with stimulator and unloading brace combined was significantly superior to treatment with the stimulator alone.

A prospective, randomized, double-blind trial compared topical therapy with 0.85% normal saline, 2% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and 70% DMSO for treatment of digital ulcers in 84 patients with systemic sclerosis. There were no statistically significant differences among the 3 treatment groups in the improvement in the total number of open ulcers, total surface area of open ulcers, average surface area per open ulcer, number of infected ulcers, number of inflamed ulcers, or patient pain assessment. While some patients improved during the study, improvement could not be attributed to a specific treatment. Over one-quarter of the patients treated with 70% DMSO were withdrawn for significant skin toxicity.

Two hundred six patients were entered into a prospective controlled, double-blind, multicenter trial comparing azathioprine (AZA) 1.25–1.5 mg/kg/day with D-penicillamine (DP) 10–12 mg/kg/day. One hundred thirty-four patients completed 24 weeks of therapy. Improvement in nearly all efficacy variables was seen in both groups. Patients taking DP demonstrated a greater rise in hemoglobin concentration and greater fall in erythrocyte sedimentation rate than patients receiving AZA; these were the only efficacy variables with a significant difference between the treatment groups. Fewer withdrawals for adverse reactions occurred among the patients receiving AZA, but the difference was not significant. Patients receiving AZA were withdrawn from the drug mainly for abnormal liver function test results, nausea and gastrointestinal upset, and leukopenia. The main reasons for withdrawal of patients receiving DP were nausea, rash and pruritis, thrombo-cytopenia, dysgeusia, and proteinuria.