Objectives In RA, telemedicine may allow tight control of disease activity while reducing hospital visits. We developed a smartphone application connected with a physician’s interface to monitor RA patients. We aimed to assess the performance of this e-Health solution in comparison with routine practice in the management of patients with RA. Methods A six-month pragmatic, randomized, controlled, prospective, clinical trial was conducted in RA patients with high to moderate disease activity starting a new DMARD therapy. Two groups were established: ‘connected monitoring’ and ‘conventional monitoring’. The primary outcome was the number of physical visits between baseline and six months. Secondary outcomes included adherence, satisfaction, changes in clinical, functional and health status scores (Short-Form 12). Results Of the 94 randomized patients, 89 completed study: 44 in the ‘conventional monitoring’ arm and 45 in the ‘connected monitoring’ arm. The total number of physical visits between required baseline and six-month visits was significantly lower in the ‘connected monitoring’ group [0.42 (0.58) vs 1.93 (0.55); P <0.05]. No differences between groups were observed in the clinical and functional scores. A better quality of life for Short-Form 12 subscores (Role-Physical and Role-Emotional) were found in the ‘connected monitoring’ group. Conclusion Our results suggest that connected monitoring reduces the number of physical visits while maintaining a tight control of disease activity and improving quality of life in patients with RA starting a new treatment. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03005925.

ObjectiveIt was shown that sodium can promote auto-immunity through the activation of the Th17 pathway. We aimed to compare sodium intake in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) vs. matched controls.MethodsThis case-control study included 24 patients with RA at diagnosis and 24 controls matched by age, gender and body mass index. Sodium intake was evaluated by 24-hr urinary sodium excretion.ResultsSodium excretion was greater for patients with early RA (2,849±1,350 vs. 2,182±751.7mg/day, p = 0.039) than controls. This difference remained significant after adjustment for smoking and the use of anti-hypertensive and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (p = 0.043). Patients with radiographic erosion at the time of diagnosis had a higher sodium excretion than those without (p = 0.028).ConclusionPatients with early RA showed increased sodium excretion which may have contributed to autoimmunity.

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BackgroundTMJ is involved in about 50% of JIA cases, often bilateral and asymptomatic in up to 71% of cases1. Adult patients with JIA have been shown to have, compared to healthy individuals, higher rate of dysfunction and anatomical abnormalities2. Clinical examination has been shown to have high specificity but low sensitivity in revealing TMJ inflammation3. To date MRI is the gold standard to assess TMJ involvement 4ObjectivesTo investigate the prevalence of TMJ involvement in young adults with JIA and young adults with non-JIA inflammatory rheumatisms.MethodsPatients were recruited prospectively in 2 clinical centers. Inclusion criteria were: patients <35 years diagnosed with JIA who had undergone transition from the pediatric to the adult rheumatologist, and patients diagnosed with non-JIA inflammatory arthropathies. All patients were assessed for joint count, clinical examination for TMJs (tenderness to palpation, swelling, signs of damage such as joint crepitations, lateral deviation, retrognathia and decreased mouth opening), evaluation of global disease activity with composite indexes and underwent MRI of the TMJs to detect inflammation (bone marrow edema, effusion, synovial thickening) or damage (condylar flattening, erosions, disk abnormalities); MRIs with either inflammation or damage were considered pathological. Demographic and clinical characteristics were described using frequency or median and interquartile range (IQR), depending on the distribution of the variable. Differences between groups were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and the χ2 test when appropriate. The significance was set at p-value ≤ 0.05.Results19 patients were included in the JIA group and 8 patients in the non-JIA group. Patients’ demographic and disease characteristics were reported in Table 1.Abstract AB1007 Table 1 JIAn 19 Non-JIAn 8 Sex F, n (%)16 (84.2%)4 (50%) Age (ys) at diagnosis, median (IQR)8 (4-12.5)23 (20.5-25.5) Current age (ys), median (IQR)22.5 (20.2 – 27.1)29.5 (28.1-32.5) Disease duration (ys), median (IQR)16 (13-17)6 (5.8-8.5) Global disease activity, n (%)Remission12 (63.1%)4 (50%)Low1 (5.3%)2 (25%)Moderate5 (26.3%)1 (12.5%)High1 (5.3%)1 (12.5%) TMJs tenderness, n (%)4 (21.1%)2 (25%) TMJs swelling, n (%)0 (0%)0 (0%) TMJ damage, n (%)13 (68.4%)4 (50%)MRI results are collected in Table 2.Abstract AB1007 Table 2 JIATMJs n 38 Non-JIATMJs n 16 Inflammation on MRI, n (%)14 (36.8%)5 (31.2%) Joint damage on MRI, n (%)26 (68.4%)11 (68.8%) Pathological MRI, n (%)26 (68.4%)11 (68.8%) TMJ involvement, n patients (%)Monolateral2 (10.5%)1 (12.5%)Bilateral12 (63.2%)5 (62.5%)There are no statistically significant differences between groups for the presence of inflammation on MRI, while damage (in particular, disk abnormalities) is more likely in JIA rather than non-JIA patients (p= 0.02). Joint effusion is more likely to be mild rather than moderate/severe in JIA patients (p = 0.04).ConclusionIt was found that it is more likely to find damage on MRI in patients of both groups rather than inflammation. Both groups show ...