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Sarcopenia is a prevalent condition in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), representing an independent predictor factor for the development of major postoperative complications. Thus, a proper assessment of the muscle strength, by using different validated tools, should be deemed an important step of the clinical management of these patients. Patients with CD are frequently malnourished, presenting a high prevalence of different macro- and micro-nutrient deficiencies, including that of vitamin D. The available published studies indicate that vitamin D is involved in the regulation of proliferation, differentiation, and regeneration of muscle cells. The relationship between vitamin D deficiency and sarcopenia has been extensively studied in other populations, with interesting evidence in regards to a potential role of vitamin D supplementation as a means to prevent and treat sarcopenia. The aim of this review was to find studies that linked together these pathological conditions.

Daily Evaluation of COVID-19 Patients Primarily Based on Lung Ultrasound: In Times of Emergency, It's Time to Change Some Paradigms.

Interstitial granulomatous dermatitis with arthritis (IGDA), also known as Ackerman's syndrome, is a rare cutaneous disease classically characterized by the triad of cutaneous cords, a typical histologic infiltrate mainly constituted by histiocytes and arthritis/connective tissue disease. Here we report the case of IGDA with the typical clinical and histological features in a patient affected by lupus erythematosus. In this article we underline that IGDA may have a variety of different clinical and histological features. The rope sign is typical but infrequent, while histology is usually characteristic and shows a dermal inflammatory infiltrate, with a predominance of histiocytes, localized interstitially and in a palisaded array between collagen fibres, that show signs of degeneration. Clinical and histological differential diagnoses are discussed.

Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects the exocrine glands, mainly the salivary and lachrymal glands, with consequent persistent dryness of the mouth and eyes. In addition to the clinical manifestations related to the exocrine gland involvement, a consistent prevalence of patients may present systemic manifestations. Some of these can be ascribed to the periepithelial extension of lymphocytic infiltration whilst others are determined by an immunomediated process affecting small- or medium-size vessels. While the use of tear and saliva substitutes and local or systemic stimulation of residual secretions represent the mainstays of the therapy of sicca component, different immunomodulating or immunosuppressive agents are usually required to treat extraglandular features, similarly to what happens in other connective tissue diseases. In the last few years, the advancement in the understanding the pathogenetic mechanisms of this disorder and the availability of new biologic target therapies seem to offer completely new therapeutic options. The use of B cell depleting or modulating therapies has achieved promising results.