Anti-tumor necrosis factor-α treatment with infliximab for disseminated granuloma annulare.

Granuloma annulare (GA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology characterized by the development of plaques preferentially localized to the distal extremities. Spontaneous remission and relapses are quite common and the course of GA is not easy to predict. Moreover, most therapeutic regimens have been used anecdotally and with variable success. We report the case of a 62-year-old White female patient affected by disseminated GA unsuccessfully treated with psoralen plus UVA photochemotherapy, prednisone, and cyclosporine (ciclosporin) who responded to the anti-tumor necrosis factor-α monoclonal antibody infliximab administered intravenously at a dosage of 5 mg/kg at weeks 0, 2, and 6 and thereafter at monthly intervals for 10 additional months. Most of the GA lesions improved within 8 weeks and then slowly resolved within 10 months of treatment. We suggest that infliximab may be proposed as an additional therapeutic option in the treatment of recalcitrant forms of disseminated GA.

Autoimmune intrahepatic cholangiopathy associated with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.

We report the case of a 26-year-old woman who developed thrombophlebitis in her left leg in 2002, followed by fever, asthenia and headache in 2004. Antinuclear antibodies, antimitochondrial antibodies, anti-liver kidney microsome, anti-Smith, antiphospholipid (aPL) and antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies, as well as lupus- anticoagulant activity were positive. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with aPL syndrome was diagnosed and the patient was treated with azathioprine and heparin. Symptoms persisted and itching arose in the following months. The patient was admitted to our department in January 2005 for jaundice and skin rash. Elevated levels of acute phase proteins and cholestasis and liver necrosis indexes were present. Antinuclear antibodies, aPL and antimitochondrial antibodies (M5) antibodies were positive. Liver histology showed minimal focal hepatocyte necrosis, intrahepatic biliary stasis and intralobular inflammatory cell infiltrate. The absence of clinical signs that are characteristic of SLE as well as the failure to confirm antiSmith antibody positivity led us to rule out a diagnosis of SLE. On the basis of clinical, immunological and histological data, autoimmune intrahepatic cholangiopathy associated with primary aPL syndrome was diagnosed. The patient was treated with intravenous methylprednisolone followed by oral prednisone, warfarin and ursodeoxycholic acid. Liver necrosis and cholestasis indexes rapidly improved within 1 month and progressively reached the normal range. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a patient with an association of intrahepatic cholangiopathy and aPL, thus suggesting that autoimmune liver disease might associate with aPL syndrome.

Intima-media thickness: a marker of accelerated atherosclerosis in women with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Accelerated atherosclerosis is an emerging problem in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We planned an observational study to determine whether in patients with SLE carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) represents an early sign of accelerated atherosclerosis and to confirm that SLE adds to the traditional cardiovascular Framingham risk factors. Thirty females with SLE (age 18-65 years) underwent anamnestic, clinical, and laboratory evaluation and B-mode ultrasonography of carotid arteries, which provides a direct and noninvasive assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis. IMT measurements were performed on the right and left common carotid arteries 1.0 cm proximal to the carotid bulb and the mean IMT value was calculated with a dedicated software. The Framingham Point Score was also calculated for each subject. SLE patients showed a mean IMT value of 0.73 +/- 0.12 (SD) mm. This value is significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that reported for an age-matched healthy female control population (0.66 +/- 0.11 SD mm). A preliminary evaluation of the Framingham Point Score, estimating the 10-year risk for women to develop cardiovascular events, indicated an increased risk of early cardiovascular events in SLE patients. In our study we have shown that patients with SLE have an increased mean IMT value compared with a healthy females control. Moreover, the evaluation of the Framingham Point Score suggests that SLE is an additional risk factor for cardiovascular disease.