Association of spinal degenerative disc disease with thyroid autoimmunity.

OBJECTIVES: Autoimmune thyroiditis (ATD) has been linked to various forms of arthritis. The relationship with spinal degenerative disc disease (DDD) is not known. We studied the association between ATD and spinal DDD. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of patients who had data on both anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb) and anti-thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) from January 1997 to January 2014 in Clinical Looking Glass (CLG), a data analysis software platform. Spinal DDD was confirmed by radiological diagnosis. RESULTS: Of the 7698 patients for whom the TPOAb and TgAb values were available, 4383 patients with complete data for the following covariates; age, gender, race, ethnicity, smoking, diabetes, body mass index and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels, were included. Thirty-three percent had ATD, while 67% did not. The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of having spinal DDD with ATD was 1.5 (95% confidence interval (CI)1.3, 1.7), p<0.001. After adjustment for covariates, ATD remained associated with a higher frequency of spinal DDD, OR 1.8 (95% CI 1.6, 2.2), p<0.001. Stratifying by BMI and TSH levels showed similar results. Additional analyses excluding patients with known connective tissue diseases and spondyloarthritis (SpA) also showed consistent results. CONCLUSIONS: ATD is associated with increased frequency of spinal DDD independent of BMI and TSH levels, and among those without connective tissue diseases or SpA. This finding suggests that there may be an important link between thyroid autoimmunity and spinal DDD.

Patients' Preference to Bedside Teaching Encounters in Four Major Wards in a Tertiary Care Centre.

INTRODUCTION: Patient interaction is a vital aspect of medical education. Bedside teaching encounters involve clinicians, medical students, and patients, and comprise a formative and focused activity. Patients' willingness to cooperate and contribute to the education and training of medical students provide better teaching opportunities. The study aims to find the patients' preference to bedside teaching encounters in four major wards in a tertiary care center in Nepal. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in four major wards in a tertary care centre from June 3, 2015 to July 3, 2015 after receiving ethical approval. Convenient sampling was done. Data was collected in Microsoft Excel and analyzed in Statistical Package for Social Sciences 13.0. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Subgroup analysis was done on the basis of demographic variables. RESULTS: Seventy-eight (77.2%) patients preferred bedside teaching encounters among 101 participants (77.12-77.28%) at 95% Confidence Interval. Among which, females, age ranging from 16 to 32 years, education below secondary school and with hospital stay<4 days were most common. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that most of the patients preferred bedside teaching encounters which was congruent with the other national and international studies.

Active peripheral inflammation is associated with pro-atherogenic lipid profile in psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: The association between psoriatic arthritis (PsA) disease activity and lipid profiles has not been explored. We studied the association between active peripheral arthritis and/or enthesitis/daclylitis with lipid measurements in PsA. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of PsA patients enrolled in the Consortium of Rheumatology Researchers of North American (CORRONA) registry. Low activity was defined as Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) ≤ 10 without enthesitis or dactylitis. Moderate-to-high peripheral disease activity was defined as CDAI > 10 and/or the presence of enthesitis/dactylitis. RESULTS: Of the 4672 patients with PsA enrolled in the CORRONA registry from June 2008 to October 2012, 725 (15.5%) had complete data on CDAI and lipid measurements. Of them, 284 (39%) patients had CDAI > 10 and/or enthesitis/dactylitis. Moderate-to-high group included more women and more current smokers. Patients with moderate-to-high disease activity had shorter duration of disease, and were more likely to be on prednisone, but less likely to use tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors. Moderate-to-high peripheral disease activity was associated with abnormal total cholesterol (TC) (>200mg/dl), odds ratio (OR) = 1.58; 95% CI: (1.11, 2.24); p = 0.01, and abnormal triglycerides (TG) (>150mg/dl), OR = 1.64; 95% CI: (1.16, 2.32); p = 0.005, after adjusting for gender, duration of PsA, smoking, body mass index, diabetes, modified Heath Assessment Questionnaire scores, as well as the following medications: methotrexate, other non-biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, prednisone, TNF inhibitors, cholesterol lowering medications, and fish oil. The presence of enthesitis and/or dactylitis, irrespective of CDAI scores, was associated with abnormal TC, OR = 1.64; 95% CI: (1.08, 2.48); p = 0.02. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest an association between peripheral joint inflammation and lipid dysregulation in PsA. Further studies are needed to determine if treating PsA improves lipid profiles and cardiovascular mortality.