Clinical patterns of psoriatic arthritis in Jordanian patients with psoriasis in a single center from Jordan

Objective: To investigate the clinical patterns of psoriatic arthritis in Jordanian patients presented to our Rheumatology clinic

Methods: This is a descriptive study which included 50 well characterized patients with psoriatic arthritis, of both sexes and aged 18-75 years. Patients with psoriatic arthritis were diagnosed according to [CASPAR] classification during six years time period from Aug 2008 to Aug 2013 at our rheumatology clinic in King Hussein medical center, Amman, Jordan. Written informed consent from all participants and approval from the ethics board review committee were obtained. Demographics and psoriatic arthritis frameworks were registered

Results: 42 patients [42/50=84%] were newly diagnosed at our clinic and eight patients [8/50=16%] were diagnosed previously as psoriatic arthritis. The most frequent significant type was polyarticular symmetrical arthritis [20/50=40%], then in decreasing order comes oligoarticular arthritis [10/50=20%] affecting mainly the knees, spondyloarthritis [9/50=18%], enthesitis and dactylitis [6/50=12%], distal interphalangeal arthritis [4/50=8%] and arthritis mutilans [1/50=2%]

Conclusions: Polyarticular pattern was the most significant frequent clinical pattern of psoriatic arthritis presentation in psoriatic Jordanian patients

Eosinophilic leukemia presenting with behcet-like symptoms

We report on a 28 year old female who was diagnosed as a case of Behcet's syndrome and referred to our rheumatology clinic for further evaluation regarding unexplained fever and leukocytosis. Blood film revealed anemia and persistent eosinophilia. Bone marrow examination showed eosinophilic leukemia which is a rare condition especially in the female gender. Although Behcet syndrome can be associated with eosinophilia, the clinical picture was suggestive of myeloid neoplasm

Thyroid dysfunctions among Jordanian patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus: a hospital-based study

To determine the frequency of thyroid dysfunction among Jordanian patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Rheumatoid Arthritis. This study was conducted in collaboration between Rheumatology and Endocrine clinics at King Hussein Medical Center in the period between January 2010 and July 2010. One hundred and twenty-two patients were studied; 80 patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and 42 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis were screened for thyroid diseases [clinical or subclinical hyper/hypothyroidism] regardless of their symptoms. The results were compared with 304 apparently healthy controls. A total number of 122 patients, female to male ratio 7.7:1 and a mean age [SD] of 37.1 +/- 13.5 years, were included in the study. Twenty-six patients were found to have thyroid function abnormalities. The frequency of thyroid disease was 21.3%. The mean age in the control group was 49.4 years. The frequency of thyroid dysfunction in the control was 6.6%. Subclinical hypothyroidism was seen in 5% of healthy controls, 13.7% of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and 7.1% of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. The majority of cases of subclinical hypothyroidism with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and all cases with Rheumatoid Arthritis were females. Overt hypothyroidism was seen in 0.9% of controls, 8.7% of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and 4.7% of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. Biochemical hyperthyroidism was seen in 0.3% of controls, 2.5% of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and 2.3% of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients, all of whom were female. Patients with rheumatologic disorders have high frequency rate of thyroid dysfunction. These dysfunctions are often subclinical in nature with female predominance. Screening should be regularly conducted in all patients with rheumatologic diseases for proper early detection and management

Behcet's disease: an assessment of cutaneous, ocular and articular characteristics in the south of Jordan

To determine the spectrum and the frequency of skin, eye and joint manifestation in patients with Behcet's Disease in the southern parts of Jordan. Twenty three patients diagnosed to have Behcet's Disease were included in the study. The diagnosis was based on the criteria proposed by the International Study Group of Behcet's Disease. In order to detect the various cutaneous, ocular and articular manifestations of the disease, all patients were thoroughly evaluated by a dermatologist, an ophthalmologist, and a rheumatologist. Pathergy test was performed for all patients. Fifteen patients were males [65.1%] and eight were females [34.8%]. The mean age was 32.5 years Oral ulcers were detected in all the patients and genital ulcers were found in 56.5% of the patients. Other skin lesions were detected in 56.5% of the patients. Ocular lesions occurred in 60.8% of the patients. Joint involvement was found in 43.4% of the patients. The pattern of cutaneous, ophthalmic and articular manifestation in our group of patients was different from patterns reported in countries with different races and similar to patterns in neighboring countries. The results may reflect the effect of differences in both the genetic background and environmental factors among different countries