The burden of rheumatologic disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

The objective of this article is to summarise the current knowledge regarding the prevalence of six rheumatological conditions in indigenous Australians - rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA), osteoporosis (OSP), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), gout and musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. Online medical literature databases were searched for 'indigenous', 'Aboriginal' and 'Torres Strait Islander', as well as the names of the six conditions. Other included search terms were 'crystal', 'urate', 'arthritis' and 'arthropathy'. No limitations were placed on publication data or language. Forty-five articles examining the prevalence of the six conditions were identified. Based on the published literature, SLE appears to have a higher prevalence, while RA appears to have a lower prevalence in indigenous Australians compared to the non-indigenous community. MSK pain is prevalent, has a significant impact on indigenous people and is perceived as an important area of need. There is a paucity of data regarding these conditions in indigenous Australians. This may be impacted by the uncertainty of case ascertainment by self-report, differences in disease phenotypes and prevalence between the metropolitan compared to the rural or remote indigenous population, and difficulty with access to healthcare. Further studies in conjunction with local indigenous communities are needed to accurately determine the burden of rheumatological disease in the indigenous population. This will assist with resource and workforce planning to deliver culturally appropriate interventions. Strategies for future clinical work and research include the development and dissemination of culturally safe rheumatology resources, rheumatology training of Aboriginal Health Workers and wider integration of rheumatology clinics into community-controlled Aboriginal Health Services.

The disproportionately large contribution of the Maori and Pacific Islander community to the healthcare burden of gout in Western Sydney.

BACKGROUND: Gout is a common chronic inflammatory disorder due to monosodium urate deposition, which results in severe inflammatory arthritis. It is particularly common in those of Maori or Pacific Islander heritage. There is a significant number of this at-risk ethnic group in western Sydney. AIMS: To determine the healthcare burden of gout in Western Sydney. METHODS: We characterised patients managed in the emergency departments (EDs) of the four Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) hospitals and those admitted for gout as the primary or secondary diagnosis from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2018. RESULTS: There were 472 patients managed in ED on 552 occasions at a direct cost to the LHD of A$367 835. Those of Maori or Pacific Islander ethnicity comprised 25.2% (n = 119/472), while half (n = 39/80) of those managed in ED for gout on two or more occasions were of Maori or Pacific Islander ethnicity. Overall, 310 patients were admitted with gout as the principal diagnosis on 413 occasions at a cost of A$1.73 million. Seventy-five (24.2%) of the 310 patients were of Maori or Pacific Islander heritage. A total of 584 WSLHD inpatients had gout as a secondary diagnosis. This was associated with 714 admissions. CONCLUSIONS: The disproportionately large healthcare burden of gout in Western Sydney from the relatively small Maori and Pacific Islander population needs attention. Urgent culturally appropriate interventions to address gout are required to address this inequality.

Epstein-Barr virus-related lymphoma in rheumatoid arthritis: implications for long-term usage of immunosuppressive drugs and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease where methotrexate (MTX) is widely used as the first-line therapy. The combination of RA and MTX is associated with lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD). RA patients with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have impaired T-lymphocyte function, thus allowing an overgrowth of EBV-positive lymphoblastoid cells. We examined the association of EBV with LPD in immunosuppressed RA patients, particularly those treated with MTX. AIM: To review the relationship between RA, EBV-associated LPD and MTX use. METHODS: We reported two cases of RA patients with long-term MTX treatment who subsequently developed EBV-positive LPD, followed by a review of the relevant literature. RESULTS: Compared with normal population, RA patients have a higher risk of lymphoma, with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma being the most common subtype. MTX withdrawal can lead to lymphoma regression. Other biological therapies, such as abatacept and tocilizumab, are not associated with increased EBV-positive lymphoma diagnosis in RA patients. CONCLUSION: The association between EBV, lymphoma and MTX highlights the need to consider reducing or stopping MTX in patients who have had stable RA for many years.

Optimization Model for the Distribution of Fiducial Markers in Liver Intervention.

The distribution of fiducial markers is one of the main factors affected the accuracy of optical navigation system. However, many studies have been focused on improving the fiducial registration accuracy or the target registration accuracy, but few solutions involve optimization model for the distribution of fiducial markers. In this paper, we propose an optimization model for the distribution of fiducial markers to improve the optical navigation accuracy. The strategy of optimization model is reducing the distribution from three dimensional to two dimensional to obtain the 2D optimal distribution by using optimization algorithm in terms of the marker number and the expectation equation of target registration error (TRE), and then extend the 2D optimal distribution in two dimensional to three dimensional to calculate the optimal distribution according to the distance parameter and the expectation equation of TRE. The results of the experiments show that the averaged TRE for the human phantom is approximately 1.00 mm by applying the proposed optimization model, and the averaged TRE for the abdominal phantom is 0.59 mm. The experimental results of liver simulator model and ex-vivo porcine liver model show that the proposed optimization model can be effectively applied in liver intervention.

Tetralogy of Fallot Cardiac Function Evaluation and Intelligent Diagnosis Based on Dual-Source Computed Tomography Cardiac Images.

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is the most common complex congenital heart disease (CHD) of the cyanotic type. Studies on ventricular functions have received an increasing amount of attention as the development of diagnosis and treatment technology for CHD continues to advance. Reasonable options for imaging examination and accurate assessment of preoperative and postoperative left ventricular functions of TOF patients are important in improving the cure rate of TOF radical operation, therapeutic evaluation, and judgment prognosis. Therefore, with the aid of dual-source computed tomography (DSCT), cardiac images with high temporal resolution and high definition, we measured the left ventricular time-volume curve using image data and calculating the left ventricular function parameters to conduct the preliminary evaluation on TOF patients. To comprehensively evaluate the cardiac function, the segmental ventricular wall function parameters were measured, and the measurement results were mapped to a bull's eye diagram to realize the standardization of segmental ventricular wall function evaluation. Finally, we introduced a new clustering method based on auto-regression model parameters and combined this method with Euclidean distance measurements to establish an intelligent diagnosis of TOF. The results of this experiment show that the TOF evaluation and the intelligent diagnostic methods proposed in this article are feasible.

Development and Validation of a Near-Infrared Optical System for Tracking Surgical Instruments.

Surgical navigation systems can help doctors maximize the accuracy of surgeries, minimize operation durations, avoid mistakes, and improve the survival chances of patients. The tracking of device is an important component in surgical navigation systems. However, commercial surgical tracking devices are expensive, thus hindering the development of surgical navigation systems, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, an accurate and low-cost near-infrared optical tracking system is presented in this study for the real-time tracking of surgical tools and for measuring and displaying the positions of these tools relative to lesions and other targets inside a patient's body. A relative algorithm for the registration of surgical tools is also proposed in this paper to yield easy, safe, and precise tracking. Experiments are conducted to test the performance of the system. Results show that the mean square errors of the distances between the light-emitting points on the surgical tools are less than 0.3 mm, with the mean square error of distance between the tip and light-emitting points is less than 0.025 mm and that between two adjacent corner points is 0.2714 mm.

Simulation and Visualization of Liver Cancer Ablation Focus in Optical Surgical Navigation.

Radiofrequency ablation therapy of liver cancer is a local mini-invasive treatment technology with several advantages, such as low trauma, safety, effectiveness, and quick postoperative recovery. The application of the optical surgical navigation system in radiofrequency ablation therapy can realize the real-time positioning of surgical instruments and focus. The positioning results can be displayed on the computer, thereby guiding doctors to accurately insert the radiofrequency electrode into the focus and improving surgical efficiency. Meanwhile, the accurate evaluation of the form and size of the ablation focus by the navigation system is the key to realizing the complete ablation of liver cancer. Therefore, based on the heat conduction equation, this paper simplifies the simulation process of the ablation focus, calculates the volume of the ablation focus by distinguishing boundary points and internal points, achieves the effective simulation of the ablation results in the surgery, and reconstructs the ablation focus by using ray casting algorithm and mobile cube algorithm for 3D visualization processing, thereby providing doctors the convenience of being able to simulate the radiofrequency ablation surgery before the actual surgery.

Near-Infrared Camera Calibration for Optical Surgical Navigation.

Near-infrared optical tracking devices, which are important components of surgical navigation systems, need to be calibrated for effective tracking. The calibration results has a direct influence on the tracking accuracy of an entire system. Therefore, the study of calibration techniques is of theoretical significance and practical value. In the present work, a systematic calibration method based on movable plates is established, which analyzes existing calibration theories and implements methods using calibration reference objects. First, the distortion model of near-infrared cameras (NICs) is analyzed in the implementation of this method. Second, the calibration images from different positions and orientations are used to establish the required linear equations. The initial values of the NIC parameters are calculated with the direct linear transformation method. Finally, the accurate internal and external parameters of the NICs are obtained by conducting nonlinear optimization. Analysis results show that the relative errors of the left and right NICs in the tracking system are 0.244 and 0.282 % for the focal lengths and 0.735 and 1.111 % for the principal points, respectively. The image residuals of the left and right image sets are both less than 0.01 pixel. The standard error of the calibration result is lower than 1, and the measurement error of the tracking system is less than 0.3 mm. The experimental data show that the proposed method of calibrating NICs is effective and can generate favorable calibration results.

Synchronization Design and Error Analysis of Near-Infrared Cameras in Surgical Navigation.

The accuracy of optical tracking systems is important to scientists. With the improvements reported in this regard, such systems have been applied to an increasing number of operations. To enhance the accuracy of these systems further and to reduce the effect of synchronization and visual field errors, this study introduces a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based synchronization control method, a method for measuring synchronous errors, and an error distribution map in field of view. Synchronization control maximizes the parallel processing capability of FPGA, and synchronous error measurement can effectively detect the errors caused by synchronization in an optical tracking system. The distribution of positioning errors can be detected in field of view through the aforementioned error distribution map. Therefore, doctors can perform surgeries in areas with few positioning errors, and the accuracy of optical tracking systems is considerably improved. The system is analyzed and validated in this study through experiments that involve the proposed methods, which can eliminate positioning errors attributed to asynchronous cameras and different fields of view.

A Semi-Automatic Coronary Artery Segmentation Framework Using Mechanical Simulation.

CVD (cardiovascular disease) is one of the biggest threats to human beings nowadays. An early and quantitative diagnosis of CVD is important in extending lifespan and improving people's life quality. Coronary artery stenosis can prevent CVD. To diagnose the degree of stenosis, the inner diameter of coronary artery needs to be measured. To achieve such measurement, the coronary artery is segmented by using a method that is based on morphology and the continuity between computed tomography image slices. A centerline extraction method based on mechanical simulation is proposed. This centerline extraction method can figure out a basic framework of the coronary artery by simulating pixel dots of the artery image into mass points. Such mass points have tensile forces, with which the outer pixel dots can be drawn to the center. Subsequently, the centerline of the coronary artery can be outlined by using the local line-fitting method. Finally, the nearest point method is adopted to measure the inner diameter. Experimental results showed that the methods proposed in this paper can precisely extract the centerline of the coronary artery and can accurately measure its inner diameter, thereby providing a basis for quantitative diagnosis of coronary artery stenosis.

Quantitative analysis of soil potassium by near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with a three-step progressive hybrid variable selection strategy.

Soil potassium is a crucial nutrient element necessary for crop growth, and its efficient measurement has become essential for developing rational fertilization plans and optimizing crop growth benefits. At present, data mining technology based on near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy analysis has proven to be a powerful tool for real-time monitoring of soil potassium content. However, as technology and instruments improve, the curse of the dimensionality problem also increases accordingly. Therefore, it is urgent to develop efficient variable selection methods suitable for NIR spectroscopy analysis techniques. In this study, we proposed a three-step progressive hybrid variable selection strategy, which fully leveraged the respective strengths of several high-performance variable selection methods. By sequentially equipping synergy interval partial least squares (SiPLS), the random forest variable importance measurement (RF(VIM)), and the improved mean impact value algorithm (IMIV) into a fusion framework, a soil important potassium variable selection method was proposed, termed as SiPLS-RF(VIM)-IMIV. Finally, the optimized variables were fitted into a partial least squares (PLS) model. Experimental results demonstrated that the PLS model embedded with the hybrid strategy effectively improved the prediction performance while reducing the model complexity. The RMSET and RT on the test set were 0.01181% and 0.88246, respectively, better than the RMSET and RT of the full spectrum PLS, SiPLS, and SiPLS-RF(VIM) methods. This study demonstrated that the hybrid strategy established based on the combination of NIR spectroscopy data and the SiPLS-RF(VIM)-IMIV method could quantitatively analyze soil potassium content levels and potentially solve other issues of data-driven soil dynamic monitoring.

A decision tree network with semi-supervised entropy learning strategy for spectroscopy aided detection of blood hemoglobin.

Non-invasive techniques for rapid blood testing are gaining traction in global healthcare as they optimize medical screening, diagnosis and clinical decisions. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is one of the most common technologies that can be used for non-destructive aided medical detection. Typically, after acquiring the Fourier transform infrared spectrum, spectral data preprocessing and feature extraction and quantitative analysis of several indicators of blood samples can be accomplished, in combination with chemometric method studies. At present, blood hemoglobin (HGB) concentration is one of the most valuable information for the clinical diagnosis of patient's health status. FT-IR spectroscopy is employed as a green technique aided medical test of blood HGB. Then the acquired HGB concentration data is switched to the spectral feature data by the studies of advanced chemometric method, in help for hiding the sensitive medical information to protect the privacy of patients. The decision tree network architecture is proposed for feature extraction of FT-IR data in order to find the small set of wavenumbers that are able to quantify HGB. A semi-supervised learning strategy is designed for tuning the number of network neuron nodes, in the way of searching for the maximum entropy increment. Each neuron is optimized by the growing of a semi-supervised decision tree, to accurately identify the informative FT-IR wavenumbers. The features extracted by the semi-supervised learning decision tree network guarantees the FT-IR aided detection model has high efficiency and high prediction accuracy. A model of quantifying the HGB concentration shows that the proposed decision tree network with semi-supervised entropy learning strategy outperforms the usual methods of full spectrum partial least square model and the fully connected neural network model in prediction accuracy. The framework is expected to support the FT-IR spectral technology for aided detection of medical and clinical data.

A Novel Approach of Surface Texture Mapping for Cone-beam Computed Tomography in Image-guided Surgical Navigation.

The demand for cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging in clinics, particularly in dentistry, is rapidly increasing. Preoperative surgical planning is crucial to achieving desired treatment outcomes for imaging-guided surgical navigation. However, the lack of surface texture hinders effective communication between clinicians and patients, and the accuracy of superimposing a textured surface onto CBCT volume is limited by dissimilarity and registration based on facial features. To address these issues, this study presents a CBCT imaging system integrated with a monocular camera for reconstructing the texture surface by mapping it onto a 3D surface model created from CBCT images. The proposed method utilizes a geometric calibration tool for accurate mapping of the camera-visible surface with the mosaic texture. Additionally, a novel approach using 3D-2D feature mapping and surface parameterization technology is proposed for texture surface reconstruction. Experimental results, obtained from both real and simulation data, validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach with an error reduction to 0.32 mm and automated generation of integrated images. These findings demonstrate the robustness and high accuracy of our approach, improving the performance of texture mapping in CBCT imaging.

Cardiac sarcoma presenting as paraneoplastic arthritis and clubbing: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac tumours are rare, and clinical manifestations depend on the anatomical location. Symptoms can be the result of cardiac outflow anomalies, constitutional features such as fever, loss of weight, and/or paraneoplastic manifestations such as arthritis. To date, there has only been one other case report in the literature of cardiac sarcoma presenting as paraneoplastic arthropathy. CASE PRESENTATION: A 52-year-old woman presented with acute onset corticosteroid-resistant inflammatory polyarthralgia, clubbing and a systolic murmur. Transthoracic echocardiogram revealed a dilated left atrium with an echogenic mass and brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple embolic infarcts. Histopathology following emergency resection showed a Grade 3 left atrial intimal sarcoma. The polyarthralgia and clubbing resolved soon after tumour removal. The patient went on to receive chemotherapy and remains in remission. CONCLUSIONS: This case highlights the rare paraneoplastic association of cardiac sarcoma and arthropathy.

Association between gout and cardiovascular outcomes in adults with no history of cardiovascular disease: large data linkage study in New Zealand.

Objective: To examine the association of gout with cardiovascular outcomes using linked administrative health data in Aotearoa New Zealand. Design: Data linkage study. Setting: National registries of pharmaceutical dispensing, hospital admission, and deaths linked to the Auckland/Northland regional repository of laboratory results to create a regional health contact population as of 31 December 2011. Participants: 942 416 residents of the Auckland/Northland region, aged 20-79 years with no history of cardiovascular disease. Main outcome measures: Time to first fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular event, identified from national datasets on hospital admissions and mortality, between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016. Cardiovascular disease was broadly defined as comprising ischaemic heart disease, ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, transient ischaemic attack, peripheral vascular disease, and heart failure. Interventions: A history of gout identified from a discharge diagnosis of gout from a public hospital admission or previous dispensing of gout specific drug treatments. The cohort was then linked to national hospital admissions and deaths through to 31 December 2016 (ie, 5 years' follow-up). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models were constructed to assess the associations between gout, other risk factors, and cardiovascular outcomes. Results: Of 942 416 people included in the study, 31 907 (3.4%) had gout (6261 women and 25 646 men). After adjustment for multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease, gout was associated with increased cardiovascular events (adjusted hazard ratio 1.34 (95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.45) in women; 1.18 (1.12 to 1.24) in men). For men with gout, there was an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in those who were not dispensed regular allopurinol (1.15 (1.05 to 1.25)) and those with a serum urate above the treatment target of 0.36 mmol/L (1.16 (1.04 to 1.30)). Risk of cardiovascular events was lower for men with gout who were not dispensed colchicine compared with those who were (0.84 (0.77 to 0.92)). These findings were not observed in women. Conclusion: These results indicate that gout is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events. In men with gout without history of cardiovascular disease, the cardiovascular risk was lower in those regularly dispensed allopurinol and those with serum urate levels at the recommended treatment target. By contrast, colchicine dispensing was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events in men with gout without a cardiovascular history. The potential causal mechanisms of these associations require further exploration, including casual inference modelling in future studies.

Cervical and ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials are sensitive to stimulus phase.

Sinusoidal forces with frequencies of 100 and 500 Hz and initial positive or negative polarities were delivered to the mastoids and Fz in normal subjects. We investigated whether the cVEMPs and oVEMPs evoked were sensitive to the polarity (phase) of vibration. With mastoid stimulation at 100 Hz, medial head acceleration produced cVEMPs with earlier latency (15.5 ms) than lateral acceleration (19.7 ms) and oVEMPs with later latency (13.8 ms) than lateral acceleration (10.6 ms). As the stimulus frequency increased, the difference in latency decreased, but was still present at 500 Hz. A similar pattern occurred following stimulation at Fz. Our results show that the initial direction of bone-conducted vibration affects both cVEMP and oVEMP properties even at relatively high frequencies.

Review: Outcome measures in calcium pyrophosphate deposition.

This review highlights outcomes for patients with calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) reported in prior studies and underscores challenges to assessing outcomes of this condition. Prior clinical studies of interventions for CPPD focused on joint damage and calcification on imaging tests, joint pain, swelling, and inflammatory biomarkers. Qualitative interviews with patients with CPPD and healthcare providers additionally identified flares, overall function, and use of analgesic medications as important outcomes. Imaging evidence of joint damage and calcification is likely to be outcomes in future clinical studies of CPPD, though reliability and sensitivity to change in CPPD require further testing for several imaging modalities. Challenges to outcome measurement in CPPD include questions of attribution of signs and symptoms to CPPD versus co-existing forms of arthritis, lack of therapies to prevent or dissolve calcium pyrophosphate crystal deposition, absence of validated patient- or physician-reported CPPD outcome measures, and scarcity of large cohorts in which to study outcomes of different clinical presentations of CPPD.

Development of a radiographic scoring system for new bone formation in gout.

BACKGROUND: Features of new bone formation (NBF) are common in tophaceous gout. The aim of this project was to develop a plain radiographic scoring system for NBF in gout. METHODS: Informed by a literature review, scoring systems were tested in 80 individual 1st and 5th metatarsophalangeal joints. Plain radiography scores were compared with computed tomography (CT) measurements of the same joints. The best-performing scoring system was then tested in paired sets of hand and foot radiographs obtained over 2 years from an additional 25 patients. Inter-reader reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). NBF scores were correlated with plain radiographic erosion scores (using the gout-modified Sharp-van der Heijde system). RESULTS: Following a series of structured reviews of plain radiographs and scoring exercises, a semi-quantitative scoring system for sclerosis and spur was developed. In the individual joint analysis, the inter-observer ICC (95% CI) was 0.84 (0.76-0.89) for sclerosis and 0.81 (0.72-0.87) for spur. Plain radiographic sclerosis and spur scores correlated with CT measurements (r = 0.65-0.74, P < 0.001 for all analyses). For the hand and foot radiograph sets, the inter-observer ICC (95% CI) was 0.94 (0.90-0.98) for sclerosis score and 0.76 (0.65-0.84) for spur score. Sclerosis and spur scores correlated highly with plain radiographic erosion scores (r = 0.87 and 0.71 respectively), but not with change in erosion scores over 2 years (r = -0.04-0.15). CONCLUSION: A semi-quantitative plain radiographic scoring method for the assessment of NBF in gout is feasible, valid, and reproducible. This method may facilitate consistent measurement of NBF in gout.

Experience and impact of crystal pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) from a patient and caregiver perspective: A qualitative exploration from the OMERACT CPPD working group.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the lived experience of people with calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease and the impact of this condition on their daily lives. METHODS: Patients with CPPD and their caregivers were invited to take part in a one-to-one (patient only) or paired (patient and caregiver) semi-structured interview. Interviews covered patients' diagnosis and treatment experiences, and the impact of CPPD on their daily lives. Transcribed interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: 28 patient interviews, six of which included a caregiver, were conducted across five countries. Acute CPP crystal arthritis flares resulted in temporary but profound disability for most patients, disrupting their ability to go about day-to-day activities, and they sought immediate medical attention. CPPD+OA and chronic CPP crystal inflammatory arthritis presented patients with longer term limitations in daily lives. Patients and their caregivers described these disruptions and limitations, which included a reduced ability or inability to complete household and self-care tasks, exercise, socialise, work and drive. They also described how arthritis pain and resulting limitations adversely impacted upon patients' psychological wellbeing. Delays in referral to specialists and diagnostic uncertainty were described by many. Lack of appropriate treatment or access to treatments only upon worsening of symptoms impacted upon the length of time some patients spent in pain and with functional limitations. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to demonstrate the wide-ranging impact of CPPD, and highlights the need for improved diagnosis, physician training, as well as greater emphasis upon finding targeted therapies to specifically treat CPPD.