[Antibodies to anticoagulants in rheumatic autoimmune diseases]. / Hemmkörper der Blutgerinnung bei Autoimmunerkrankungen des rheumatischen Formenkreises.

The systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as the classic autoimmune diseases exhibit a great number of autoantibodies. Some of them are anticoagulants. Besides inactivating inhibitors against single coagulation factors interfering anticoagulants are known, belonging to the group of anti-phospholipid antibodies and detected as the lupus anticoagulants or anticardiolipin antibodies. Anti-phospholipid antibodies 184 patients with SLE or RA had been checked for. An enzyme immuno assay was used for detection of the anti-cardiolipin antibodies. The relations between occurrence of the anti-cardiolipin antibodies and vascular processes as well as other immunologic parameters had been tested for clinical relevancy.

[Psoriasis arthropathica and seronegative rheumatoid arthritis--differential diagnostic considerations]. / Die Psoriasis arthropathica und die seronegative Rheumatoid-Arthritis--Differentialdiagnostische Erwägungen.

For differential-diagnostic considerations concerning seronegative arthritides two groups of patients with 25 patients each of the disease groups psoriasis arthropathica and serologically negative rheumatoid arthritis were selected. The differentiation of the two diseases was performed by clinical, paraclinical and radiological findings. When there are no typical psoriatic changes of skin and/or nails and there is an empty family anamnesis concerning this dermatosis, respectively, the coordination of seronegative arthritides is considerably rendered more difficult. Here the radiomorphological investigations particularly of the sacroiliacal joint and/or of the spine essentially contribute, since the arthritis of the sacroiliacal joint is to seen in high incidence in psoriasis arthropathica. Out of the number of the paraclinical values the determination of the complement factor C 4 and of immunoglobulin M gets the importance of a sign of differentiation, in which case C 4 in the psoriasis arthropathica and the immunoglobulin M in the seronegative rheumatoid arthritis are statistically significantly increased. The problems of the often difficult differential diagnosis between the two groups of disease can be clarified only by complex clinical examinations, paraclinical parameters and subtile radiodiagnosis. A close interdisciplinary cooperation between experienced dermatologists, rheumatologists and radiologists seems reasonable.

[Arteriitis temporalis--a major disease developing in advance age (author's transl)]. / Die Arteriitis temporalis--eine bedeutsame Erkrankung des höheren Lebensalters.

Arteriitis temporalis, a disease that was largely unknown in the early fifties, has gained importance in recent years. In the past ten years 32 patients suffering from arteriitis temporalis were diagnosed and treated both in the eye hospital and in the rheumatic-cardiological hospital of the Berlin-Buch Municipal Hospital. The following clinical findings were essential for the diagnosis: advanced or old age of the patient, massive headache in the temporal and/or occipital regions, myalgia primarily in the shoulders and the neck that responded relatively poorly to treatment, reduced eyesight, loss of weight and decrease in vitality. Extremely high BSR, an increased amount of alpha-2 and an increased level of alkaline phosphatase were most important among the laboratory findings. Corticosteroids have proved to be the medicine of choice for treating this condition.