Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, autoimmune and disabling disease that significantly affects the quality of life. Additionally, significant number of patients with RA suffer from depressive disorders, which are commonly underrecognised and undertreated. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Croatian RA patients and to assess the relationship between them and clinical correlates. Subjects and methods: Fifty-four RA patients treated at the Clinic for Rheumatic Diseases and Rehabilitation at the University Hospital Centre Zagreb were prospectively enrolled in the study and evaluated for functional status using the Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS-28), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain and health related quality of life (HRQL) measurement. The depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) questionnaire. Results: Thirty RA patients (55.6%) had some sort of mood disorder, with 10 (18.5%) patients accounting as depressed. Positive correlation was found between depressive symptoms, higher disease activity and disablity during daily activities (b=0.385, p=0.001 and b=0.282, p=0.024 respectively). We found no significant association between depression and disease activity in the whole sample of RA patients, but for postmenopausal patients, the disease activity correlated with postmenopausal patients accounting as depressed (BDI-II score moderate or severe; b=0.363, p=0.021). The use of biologic therapy correlated negatively with the disease acitivity, pain intensity and worse health related quality of life score (b=-0.360, p=0.06; b=-0.310, p=0.07; b=-0.380, p=0.01 respectively). Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of depressive sympoms in RA patients and the effect on functional disability and quality of life, we wanted to emphasize the importance of recognizing and optimizing depression treatment through multidisciplinary approach in RA patients.

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BACKGROUND Calcific shoulder tendinitis (CST) is characterized by hydroxyapatite crystals deposition in the rotator cuff tendons. Therapeutic exercises have been the mainstay of CST treatment, and evidence for therapeutic ultrasound (T-US) utilization and efficacy is lacking. AIM This study aimed to determine whether 4500 J T-US combined with therapeutic exercises is superior to therapeutic exercises alone regarding calcification size reduction and symptom improvement in chronic symptomatic CST. DESIGN This is a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. SETTING This study was conducted at a University Department for Rheumatic Diseases and Rehabilitation of a University Hospital. POPULATION Patients with chronic CST were analyzed. METHODS After eligibility allocation, 46 patients with sonographically confirmed CST were divided into two groups (56 shoulders, 26 per group). Both groups performed the same therapeutic exercises for half an hour under physiotherapist supervision. In the treatment group T-US (4500 J, 10 minutes per session at a frequency of 1 MHz and an intensity of 1.5 W/cm 2 ), and in the placebo group, sham T-US was applied for 4 weeks. Patients were assessed for: calcification size, shoulder pain, global health (GH), shoulder mobility (ROM), handgrip strength, Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), and overall rehabilitation satisfaction. RESULTS All assessed variables improved in both groups. A significantly greater reduction in calcification size was recorded in the treatment group compared to placebo: -10.92% (IQR 4.61% to 19.38%) versus -5.04% (2.30% to 7.22%), P=0.008. There was a significantly greater decrease in HAQ-DI, reduction of VAS GH, and an increase in hand grip strength in the treatment group, while no significant differences were observed for other parameters between the groups. CONCLUSIONS Our results showed that adding the 4500 J T-US to therapeutic exercises in chronic symptomatic CST therapy resulted in greater calcification size reduction immediately following the treatment, as well as hand grip strength, HAQ-DI, and VAS GH improvement. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT 4500 J T-US combined with therapeutic exercises is more effective in reducing calcification size than therapeutic exercises alone in the treatment of chronic symptomatic CST.

Spontaneous osteonecrosis of the knee (SONK) is the most common type of knee osteonecrosis. It causes subchondral bone damage and in the majority of cases leads to cartilage damage and secondary osteoarthritis. The etiology is commonly explained with two main theories, vascular and traumatic. Vascular theory is based on disrupture of bone blood supply which causes local ischaemia and subchondral bone necrosis. Traumatic theory suggests the development of subchondral insufficiency fractures due to mechanical overload, which causes local oedema, ischaemia and necrosis. SONK typically appears in middle age and older women, with acute onset of sharp pain in the medial femoral condyle without predisposing trauma. Considering that the characteristic radiological signs are not seen on conventional radiography until advanced stage, magnetic resonance imaging is the gold standard in diagnostics. Treatment depends on the size and stage of the osteonecrotic lesion. Small osteonecrotic lesions are usually successfully treated non-operatively, which is based primarily on protected weight bearing and physical therapy. Medium osteonecrotic lesions are treated either non-operatively or operatively, while large osteonecrotic lesions are almost always treated operatively. Most commonly used joint preserving procedures include arthroscopic bone marrow stimulation using microfracture technique, core decompression, osteochondral autologous or homologous transplantation, artificial graft transplantation, and medial opening-wedge high tibial osteotomy. The treatment of choice after subchondral bone collapse is knee arthroplasty.