Eighty out-patients (50 F, 30 M), aged 58 +/- 12 years (range: 26-84) and weighing 72 +/- 10 kg (range: 50-97), presenting with an acute or subacute (< 3 months) episode of rotator cuff tendinitis without (n = 28) or with movement restriction (n = 52) of the shoulder and having a pain intensity of at least 4 on VAS for pain at rest or on active movement, were treated at random and in double blind conditions for 1 to 4 weeks with 1 weekly periarticular anterior injection of tenoxicam 20 mg or placebo. Tenoxicam treated patients improved more than placebo-injected patients in a statistically highly significant manner with regard to clinical index, pain on VAS during active movement and at rest, active mobility (degrees), pain or pressure and clinical global impression (assessed by investigator and patient). There was a nonsignificant opinion that placebo treated patients consumed more rescue medication. Safety assessments were not significantly better in the placebo-treated patients through local tolerability tended to be better in that group. These results indicate that tenoxicam 20 mg injected locally is effective in alleviating pain and in improving shoulder mobility in patients with a painful shoulder episode and suggest that such a treatment is safe and well tolerated. Local injection of tenoxicam seems to be a promising new treatment of acute, painful, local inflammatory processes in Rheumatology, Orthopaedics, Physical Medicine and Sports Medicine. Further studies in other pathologies are warranted.

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Of 18 children with different connective tissue diseases four were found to have overlaps. Two presented features of SLE and PSS or SLE and PM and 2 had features of SLE, PSS and JRA. In two of them antiribonucleoprotein antibodies were detected by radical immunodiffusion. But these antibodies were also detected in a few children suffering from a single connective tissue disease. On the other hand, the six children with anti-RNP were not characterized by a particular clinical picture or a better prognosis; when compared to adults, no significant difference could be observed except that the Raynaud phenomenon, sausage fingers and myositis seemed less frequent in childhood. It may be concluded that combinations of connective tissue disease can occur in children but anti-RNP does not appear as a good biological marker.

A radioimmunoassay of ADH has been applied to the study of plasma ADH levels in various conditions. The validity of the assay has been evaluated by the usual quality control parameters of RIA and by the measure of plasma levels in 12 upright water deprived normal volunteers (mean 9.5 pg/ml, SEM +/- 1.5) in 8 resting and hydrated normal volunteers (1.3 +/- 0.4 pg/ml), in a case of diabetes insipidus (1.6 pg/ml), in 8 cases of SIADH Syndrome (range 13-77 pg/ml) and in 4 anesthetized dogs before (33.7 +/- 9.2 pg/ml) and after acute haemorrhage (66 +/- 9.5 pg/ml, p less than 0.02). The osmotoic challenge to ADH secretion has been studied in 8 patients with no overt endocrine pathology by salt perfusion and showed a significant rise (p less than 0.05) of plasma ADH from 6.3 +/- 3.1 pg/ml before, to 20.6 +/- 7.9 pg/ml during salt infusion corresponding to the significant (p less than 0.0001) rise of plasma osmolality from 273 +/- 2.8 to 288.2 +/- 1.1 m Osm/kg.