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Article
Severity of Liver Cirrhosis Evaluated by Digital Subtraction Angiography Using Quantitative Color-Coding Analysis Before Transarterial Embolization
This study examined whether the quantitative color-coding analysis (QCA) of two-dimensional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) can accurately measure the maximal density time (Tmax) on the time–density curv...
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Article
Open AccessEarly urate-lowering therapy in gouty arthritis with acute flares: a double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial
Gouty arthritis (GA) is a chronic systemic disease with recurrent acute monoarthritis. In a previous study, a higher incidence of acute flares was observed during the initial marked decrease in serum urate lev...
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Article
Open AccessGenome-wide association study reveals ethnicity-specific SNPs associated with ankylosing spondylitis in the Taiwanese population
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an autoimmune disease affecting mainly spine and sacroiliac joints and adjacent soft tissues. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are used to evaluate genetic associations an...
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Article
Open AccessMRI contributes to accurate and early diagnosis of non-radiographic HLA-B27 negative axial spondyloarthritis
Nonradiographic axial spondyloarthropathies (nr-axSpA) are diagnosed by the absence of radiographic sacroiliitis and the presence of bone marrow edema (BME) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). According to th...
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Article
Open AccessPositive association of Parkinson’s disease with ankylosing spondylitis: a nationwide population-based study
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is characterized by excessive production of inflammatory cytokines. Recent evidence suggests that inflammation underlies the neurodegenerative process of Parkinson’s disease (PD). W...
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Article
Open AccessImmunologic aspects of characteristics, diagnosis, and treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the worldwide spread of the infectious disease COVID-19, caused by a new strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, as a pandemic. Like in all other infectious...
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Article
Open AccessInvestigation of the variants at the binding site of inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB in patients with end-stage renal disease
A chronic inflammatory state is a prominent feature in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) is a transcription factor that regulates the expression of genes involved in ...
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Article
Identification of susceptibility gene associated with female primary Sjögren’s syndrome in Han Chinese by genome-wide association study
Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (PSS) is an autoimmune disease targeting exocrine glands. It ten times more dominantly affects women than men with an onset peak at menopause. The genetic factor predisposing women t...
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Article
Kimura’s disease associated necrotizing eosinophilic vasculitis presenting with recurrent peripheral arterial occlusive disease: a case report and review of the literature
A 33-year-old Chinese man with 9-year history of Kimura’s disease (KD) was admitted with a 1-month history of recurrent claudication. He did not have any clinical discomfort and had not taken any preventive me...
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Article
Usefulness of anti-CCP antibodies in patients with hepatitis C virus infection with or without arthritis, rheumatoid factor, or cryoglobulinemia
The presence of antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) has high specificity in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may induce extra-hepatic manifestations, s...
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Article
Autoimmune hepatitis with raised alpha-fetoprotein level as the presenting symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and autoimmune hepatitis are distinct clinical disorders, which rarely occur, in the same patient. We describe a 59-year-old woman with coexistence of both conditions. Photos...
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Article
Systemic lupus erythematosus with simultaneous onset of Kikuchi-Fujimoto’s disease complicated with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome: a case report and review of the literature
Histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, called Kikuchi-Fujimoto’s disease (KFD), is an idiopathic, self-limited condition rarely associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The cause of concomitant KFD ...
