Eman Hafez

Background: The treatment decision of patients with moderately severe cases of degenerative lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSS) whether conservative or surgical is highly dependable on physician evaluation without clear standards. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of conservative treatment of patients complaining of moderately severe degenerative LSS in comparison with surgical intervention throughout one year follow up. The present study was conducted on 60 patients with LSS: 30 patients treated with rehabilitation program and 30 patients treated with decompression surgery. All patients were assessed for pain and physical function before treatment, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after treatment. Results: Both groups showed significant improvement of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), ODI walk, and Zurich Claudication Questionnaire (ZCQ) symptoms and function subscales at 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment compared to baseline. However, at 1 year, the most pa...

Background The advent of novel biologic agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has proven to be highly productive. Nonetheless, high cost, side effects, and unresponsiveness to these agents dictates the assignment of biomarkers that can foretell treatment response. Currently, calprotectin (a member of the S100 protein family) is amongst the enormously studied candidates in this perspective. Yet, conflicting results have been published. The main purpose of this study was to explore the role of serum concentration of calprotectin to predict the response to biological therapy in RA patients, so as to customize RA treatment. Results Baseline serum calprotectin levels were significantly higher in RA patients compared to the control subjects (P value < 0.001). After receiving biologic therapy, a remarkable reduction (P < 0.001) in serum calprotectin was noted in RA cohort. Moreover, no correlation was found between the 28 joint count disease activity score (DAS28) and...

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Purpose: the assessment of the extent of damage of hand and wrist joints in rheumatoid arthritis. Material and methods: this prospective study included 25 patients, 20 females 43.48 years±13.64SD. Initial clinical assessment was carried out and Disease Activity Score (DAS28) was used for grading the disease activity; followed by ultrasound and MRI evaluation. Results: assessment of tenosynovitis with 100% sensitivity and specificity as well as synovial effusion (100 % sensitivity, 90% specificity). The least sensitivity was encountered in the detection of bony erosions (sensitivity 21.05%, specificity 100%). Significant correlations were found between US parameters for synovial thickening & bone erosions by MRI and DAS28 score. Yet, no significant correlation was found between synovial thickening by MRI and DAS28 score. Conclusion: changes and disease follow up. MRI is superior in the estimation of the severity of structural bony changes and recommended as the baseline study for proper treatment outcome.