• ÖZ

Objectives: This study reports a low dose combination therapy of cyclophosphamide (CYC) and pirfenidone (PFD) and the efficiency and safety of the therapy in refractory connective tissue disease associated interstitial lung disease (CTD-ILD) patients. Patients and methods: The study included seven CTD-ILD patients (2 males, 5 females; mean age 48.8 years; range, 32 to 63 years) treated between January 2016 and December 2017 in our clinic. At enrolment, all patients had shown no improvement in their symptoms (dyspnea or cough) after at least one month of high dose steroids treatment. Patients who had received adjusted immunosuppressive agents other than steroids or anti-fibrotic medications within the three months before enrolment were excluded. We changed the treatment to a low dose combination of CYC 0.4 g/m2 monthly and PFD 300 mg twice per day and quickly reduced the steroids. All the patients were followed-up for 12 months. Results: Two patients had anti-synthetase syndrome, two had Sjögren syndrome, two had scleroderma and one had mixed connective tissue disease. The baseline forced vital capacity (FVC) was 39-81% and the six-minute walk distance (6MWD) was 202 m-324 m. Within 12 months followup, the median improvement in the FVC was 13.4% (range, 0-35.9%), the median improvement of carbon monoxide diffusing capacity was 6.3% (range, 1.7-16%) and the median improvement of 6MWD was 52.7% (range, 34.4-86.3%). All the patients were self-sufficient, and their dyspnea, chest high-resolution computed tomography scores, and quality of life improved simultaneously. Exceeding our expectations, no adverse events associated with CYC or PFD were observed during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Our study provided preliminary while promising clinical evidence for combination therapy of CYC-PFD for CTD-ILD. A low dose combination of CYC and PFD was unexpectedly well tolerated, with satisfactory effects in refractory CTD-ILD patients. Well-designed controlled studies are needed to further establish the safety and efficacy of this approach.

• ÖZ

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the prevalence of inflammatory back pain (IBP) and sacroiliitis in a systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) population as well as the association between IBP and the frequency of human leukocyte antigen B27 (HLA-B27). Patients and methods: The study included 281 SLE patients (16 males, 265 females; mean age 39.9±11.9 years; range, 20 to 69 years) and 100 healthy controls (HCs) (2 males, 98 females; mean age 41.2±10.1 years; range, 19 to 64 years). Participants were administered a five-item Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society-IBP questionnaire. Patients and controls with IBP underwent detailed clinical and laboratory examinations to detect sacroiliitis. Radiographic evaluations were performed by a blinded rheumatologist and radiologist. Interobserver reliability was assessed with Cohen’s kappa test. Results: According to the questionnaire, IBP was present in 46 SLE patients (46/281; 16.3%) whereas none of the HC had IBP (p<0.001). In radiological assessment, 22 SLE patients (7.8%) had sacroiliitis detected by conventional X-ray and/or magnetic resonance imaging. Only one SLE patient with sacroiliitis had HLA-B27. Conclusion: Our study showed that IBP is increased in SLE patients and IBP in SLE is not associated with HLA-B27.

• ÖZ

Necrosis resulting from mechanical local factors can be seen in patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) even in remission. GPA can cause serious morbidity even when limited. An ocular prosthesis that increases inflammation and damages local circulation should be used very carefully in such patients. In this article, we report a 68-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with localized GPA 11 years ago and referred to our clinic with the complaint of displacement of an ocular prosthesis inside the nose and epistaxis. Four years ago, the left eye was enucleated because of pain and vision loss. Two months after the enucleation, the patient began to use an ocular prosthesis. Orbital medial wall destruction developed while the patient was receiving maintenance therapy that consisted of cyclophosphamide (150 mg/day) plus prednisolone (32 mg). When the ocular prosthesis was displaced in the nasal cavity, the prosthesis was first removed and the patient was clinically stabilized. Later, orbital wall reconstruction was performed at another center.

• ÖZ

Objectives: This study aims to compare the sensitivity of the intradermal application of the pathergy test with the “three-step pathergy test”. Patients and methods: The study included 60 patients with Behçet's disease (BD) (23 males, 37 females; mean age 33.9±9.7 years; range, 11 to 57 years) and 100 patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis as the control group (39 males, 61 females; mean age 32.4±12.1 years; range, 11 to 66 years). Simultaneous intradermal pathergy test and three-step pathergy test were applied to each patient. Results: Twenty-six patients (43.3%) with BD had positive three-step pathergy test and 18 (30%) of them had positive intradermal pathergy test. A statistically significant relationship was found between the three-step pathergy test positivity and male sex while no relationship was detected between the disease activity and the positivity of the pathergy test. In the three-step pathergy test, pathergy positivity with intramuscular method was statistically significantly higher than with intravenous method. Conclusion: The three-step pathergy test in patients with BD was found to have higher sensitivity compared with the intradermal pathergy test. The intramuscularly applied pathergy test was the main cause of increase in sensitivity. Further studies are needed to develop new applications of pathergy test that would increase the sensitivity and which are also easy to apply.

• ÖZ

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the effects of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on pain, sleep, fatigue, disability, depression, and quality of life (QoL) in patients with myofascial pain syndrome (MPS). Patients and methods: Between March 2018 and September 2018, a total of 94 patients (16 males, 78 females; mean age 44.2±11.94 years; range, 19 to 74 years) with the diagnosis of MPS were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups. The treatment group consisted of 49 patients and a total of seven sessions of high-energy flux density ESWT (H-ESWT) (0.26 mJ/mm2) were given with three days interval. The control group consisted of 45 patients and the treatment of hot pack, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and ultrasound was given for five days for two weeks. At baseline and one month after treatment, the visual analog scale (VAS), Short Form-36 (SF-36), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue Scale, Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores were compared between the groups. Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the age, sex, demographic characteristics, and baseline VAS, SF-36, NDI, BDI, FACIT, and PSQI scores between the groups (p>0.05). In the ESWT group, there was a statistically significant decrease in the VAS, SF-36, NDI, BDI, FACIT, and PSQI scores after treatment compared to the baseline scores, while only the SF-36 subscale scores were statistically significantly higher (p<0.05). There was a statistically significant correlation between the VAS and SF-36 scores and the BDI, NDI, FACIT and PSQI scores after the treatment. Conclusion: Our study results suggest that H-ESWT is more effective than traditional physical therapy methods on pain, QoL, sleep, fatigue, depression, and disability in patients with MPS.