Rheum Flashcards
Causes of anterior uveitis?
Multiple
Ankylosing spondylitis (hla-b27)
Sarcoid/TB
Inflammatory bowel disease
Rheumatoid arthritis (tend to be scleritis moreso)
Reiter’s
Herpes simplex / Herpes zoster (choroiditis) /STIs
MS
Characteristic xray features of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and gout?
Osteoarthritis (LOSS)- loss of joint space, osteophytes, subarticular sclerosis, subchondral cysts
RA (SOLE)- soft tissue swelling, osteopenia, loss of joint space, erosions,
Gout- normal joint space, periarticular erosions, soft tissue swelling
Blood test IHx for back pain?
FBC, ESR, CRP (infection, myeloma, tumour)
ALP (Paget’s)
Serum/urine electrophoresis (myeloma)
PSA (prostate mets)
MRI if red flag symptoms
How do you do the straight leg test and femoral stretch test, what are they looking for?
Staight leg: pain below knee on lifting a straight leg, especially if foot is dorsiflexed
Femoral: lay on front, knee bent and lift (extend) hip = pain on anterior thigh
Sciatic nerve stretch, can be lumbar disc prolapse
Which joints are affected in osteoarthritis compared to rheumatoid arthritis?
OA: DIP (Hebedon’s nodes)
PIP (Bouchard’s)
carpo-metocarpal joints + knees
RA: MCP + MTP
PIP
Wrist
~monoarthritis of large joints
Hand signs of rheumatoid arthritis?
Early: swollen MCP, PIP joints + tenosynovitis
Later: swan-necking, Boutonniére’s
ulnar deviation, Z-deformity of thumbs
wrist subluxation
Nodules of elbows , Raynaud’s, carpal tunnel
Specific antibody found in rheumatoid arthritis?
Anticyclic citrullinated peptide Abs
= ACPA / anti-CCP
What is a high titre of rheumatoid factor in rheumatoid arthritis associated with?
Severe disease
Erosions
Extra-articular disease
How is disease activity measured in rheumatoid arthritis?
DAS28 score- tenderness and swelling at 28 joints
MCPs, PIPs, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees
+ ESR + patient’s reported symptom severity
Name some disease modifying drugs (DMARDS)
Common: Methoxtrexate, sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine
Rarely: IM gold, leflunomide
penicilamine, azathioprine, ciclosporin
SE of DMARDs
Particularly methotrexate, sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine
Immunosuppression- pancytopenia, neutropenic sepsis
Methotrexate- pneumonitis, oral ulcers, hepatotoxicity
Sulfasalazine, low sperm count, rash, oral ulcers
Hydrochloroquine- irreversible retinopathy
When do you consider using biological agents in rheumatoid arthritis?
When there is a failure to respond to DMARDs after 6 months
AND
Patient has a DAS28 score of >5.1
For rheumatoid arthritis what is the biological agent ladder? Ie mechanism of different antibodies to be tried
Often taken with methotrexate:
- TNF inhibitors (infliximab)
- B cell depletion (rituximab)
- IL-1 and IL-6 inhibition (toclizumab)
- Disrupt T cell function (abatacept)
SEs of biological agents?
Infection- hepatitis B + TB reactivation (SCREEN)
Hypersensitivity
Neutrilizing antibodies
Reversible SLE-type illness
Worsened heart failure
What are the four diagnostic categories used in diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis?
Joint involvement (number of large and small)
Serology (RF and anti-CCP)
Acute phase reactants (CRP or ESR)
Duration of symptoms (6 weeks +)
Score 6/10 is diagnostic
Causes of monoarthritis?
Septic arthritis
Crystal arthritis (gout + pseudogout)
Osteoarthritis
Trauma- haemoarthritis
Causes of oligoarthritis (under 5 joints)
Crystal arthritis (gout, pseudogout) Psoriatic arthritis Reactive arthritis (yersinia, salmonella, campylobacter) Ankylosing spondylitis Osteoarthritis
Causes of symmetrical polyarthritis (5 + joints involved)
Rheumatoid arthritis
Osteoarthritis
Viruses- hepatitis A, B + C, mumps
Connective tissue disease, Behcet’s,
leukaemia, sickle cell, Familial mediterranean fever
endocarditis, sarcoid,
haemochromatosis,
What is Familial Mediterranean fever?
Rx?
Gene defect 16p
Recurrent peritonitis + pleurisy
Fevers + Abdo pain + arthritis
Rx: colchicine
Causes of asymmetrical polyarthritis (5+ joints involved)
Reactive arthritis (yersinia, salmonella, campylobacter) Psoriatic arthritis
What are the different types of crystal deposited in gout and pseudogout?
Gout- monosodium urate
PSeudogout- calcium pyrophosphate
What are the different factors that may contribute to gout or pseudogout?
Gout: dietary purines, alcohol excess,
diuretics, cytotoxics + leukaemia (tumour lysis)
Pseudogout: as it's calcium pyrophosphate age hyperparathyroidism haemochromatosis hypophosphataemia
How do IHx differentiate between gout and pseudogout
Polarized light microscopy of synovial fluid:
Gout- Needle-shaped Negatively birefringent urate crystals
Pseudogout- Positively birefringent rhomboid crystals
Xray: soft tissue swellings
Gout- erosions, joint space intact
Pseudogout- calcium deposits
When should you start prophylaxis for gout?
What is it?
>1 attack in a year Renal stones (urate) Tophi (deposits in pinna, joints)
Allopurinol until urate id
How long after an acute attack of gout should you wait before starting allopurinol prophylaxis (if indicated)?
3 weeks (as can precipitate an another acute attack) If on allopurinol already and there's an acute attack, don't stop allopurinol
Rx for acute attack of gout or pseudogout?
NSAIDs
± colchicine
What does seronegative mean in arthritides? Which are included in this category?
Rheumatoid factor -ve
Ank Spond, Enteric arthropathy (IBD), Psoriatic arthritis, Reactive arthritis (after GI or GU problem)
Often HLA-B27 +ve, involving the spine
Enthesitis- inflammation of tendon insertion site is often a problem for which tendons in those with ankylosing spondylitis?
Achilles tendonitis
Plantar fasciitis
Tibial + ischial tuberosities
Iliac crests
Xray of a spine shows ‘bamboo spine’, what is this characteristic of?
Ankylosing spondylitis
Calcification of spinal ligaments due to ongoing inflammation of them
‘Pencil in cup’ Xray findings of distal interphalangeal joints is characteristic of…?
Severe psoriatic arthritis
Which infections may be implicated in reactive arthritis?
Following urethritis- chlamydia, ureaplasma sp.
Or dysentery- campylobacter, salmonella, shigella, yersinia
Urethritis, arthritis + conjunctivitis (with raised ESR + CRP)
What have you got?
Reiter’s syndrome
Check for GU infections (STI screen)
Or GI infections (Stool culture, serology)