The efficiency of platelet-rich plasma treatment in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment on pain, functionality, quality of life, and cartilage thickness in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: Sixty patients with chronic knee pain were randomly separated into two groups. The first group was administered 4-ml PRP intra-articularly (IA) in three doses at one-week intervals, and the second group had only one dose of a 4-ml saline solution IA. The patients' pain was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS); functionality was measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). The distal femur cartilage thickness was assessed using ultrasonography (USG). RESULTS: All baseline parameters were similar (p> 0.05). In the first and sixth months after the treatment, the VAS scores of the PRP group were significantly low (p< 0.001). In the same group, only the pain sub-score was low in the WOMAC assessment in the first month after treatment. However, in the sixth month, all parameters of the WOMAC score were lower than those of the placebo group (p< 0.05). Cartilage thickness measurements were similar in the two groups (p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: PRP treatment had positive effects on the pain, physical function, and quality of life of patients with knee OA, but it did not increase cartilage thickness.

[Dermatomyositis presenting with low back pain]. / Bel agrisi ile basvuran dermatomiyozit olgusu.

Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare connective tissue disease characterized by skin lesions and inflammatory changes observed in muscle biopsy findings. A definitive diagnosis of DM requires a characteristic rash in addition to proximal muscle weakness and muscle enzyme level elevation. DM is twice as common in women as men, with an age of onset of approximately 50 years. This case report describes a 29-year-old patient with low back pain and proximal muscle weakness in the legs diagnosed as lumbar disc herniation who was then referred by the neurosurgery department to our clinic. A physical examination revealed the characteristic skin lesions for dermatomyositis. Needle electromyography and a skin biopsy were performed, and corticosteroid treatment was initiated. In misdiagnosed patients, fatty infiltration in the muscles may cause irreversible weakness and gait disturbance. Early suppression of inflammation is important and can yield a dramatic response to treatment.