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OBJECTIVES:To estimate and compare cost-of-illness (COI) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in South Korea. METHODS: Patients with RA (nϭ196) and AS (nϭ191) were surveyed by face-to-face interviews at the Rheumatology Clinic of Seoul National University Hospital. Direct costs [medical costs (treatment, drug, private physiotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine, other alternative medicine), non-medical costs (travel, dietary supplements, auxiliary device, home assistance)], indirect costs (productivity loss due to job loss and sick leave) and deterioration in HRQOL of RA and AS patients were measured. HRQOL was assessed using KEQ-5D. Factors associated with COI and HRQOL were analyzed using multiple regression and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS

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Sublingual nifedipine is commonly used in hypertensive crisis, however, it may result in several adverse effects such as reflex tachycardia, headache, and flushing. Research is continuing to find a new drug that has the same efficiency and fewer side effects. Sublingual captopril, a new preparation of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, lowers blood pressure. It is not known whether it is effective in these emergent clinical settings. Therefore we designed a randomized, double-blind study to compare the efficacy and safety of those two drugs in hypertensive crisis. Eighty patients (32 male and 48 female) with hypertensive crisis were included in the study; their mean age was 43.4 +/- 7.9 years. Nifedipine 10 mg was given sublingually to 34 and captopril 25 mg to 46 patients randomly. There was no difference between the two drugs with respect to their antihypertensive effect. Heart rate significantly dropped (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001) in the patients taking captopril, but no changes were observed in the patients taking nifedipine. Twenty-three of 34 patients taking nifedipine encountered adverse effects. Adverse effects were observed in only three patients taking captopril (p < 0.001). Sublingual captopril is as effective as and has less side effects than sublingual nifedipine. Because sublingual captopril has fewer side effects, it may be safer than nifedipine in the treatment of hypertensive crisis.http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00547/bibs/8n3p147.html

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