Fibromyalgia with chronic rheumatic diseases in South Korea: a comparison of clinical and American College of Rheumatology criteria.

AIM: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of fibromyalgia (FM) in patients with underlying rheumatic disease, and to compare it by three different measures. METHODS: We studied 546 patients with chronic rheumatic diseases who attended our rheumatology clinic. If patients answered all of a screening questionnaire with yes, then we considered patients to be having widespread pain as assessed by the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), widespread pain index (WPI), and symptom severity (SS). A physician administered the tender point (TP) exam and clinician's judgment of FM. We collected demographics, clinical and laboratory features. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-four (30.0%) patients among 546 cases had a further exam. The male-to-female count was 25 : 139. The mean age was 49.7 years, disease duration 3.7 years, TP counts 4.2, FIQ score 47.0 and WPI with SS score was 11.1. We classified 17 patients (10.4%) with concomitant FM with widespread pain by tender point exam, 56 patients (34.2%) by WPI with SS, and 36 patients (22.0%) by a clinician's judgment. A total of 70.6% (n = 12) of those classified as FM by 1990 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria wee categorized as FM by clinician's judgment, while 33.3% by clinician's judgment were classified by 1990 ACR criteria. CONCLUSIONS: We found a 10.4~34.2% prevalence of concomitant FM in the patients with chronic widespread pain. The 1990 ACR criteria were the most restrictive except for SLE. Although The 2010 ACR criteria had a wide spectrum, it can be used for FM diagnosis even in the patient with underlying rheumatic diseases.

[Clinical features of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma].

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be one of the important causes of cryptogenic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether patients with cryptogenic HCC share clinical features similar to that of NAFLD. METHODS: Cryptogenic HCC was defined as HCC that occurs in patients with the following conditions: HBsAg(-), anti-HCV(-), and alcohol ingestion of less than 20 g/day. All patients diagnosed with cryptogenic HCC from 2005 to 2012 (cryptogenic HCC group), and all patients diagnosed with HBV associated HCC between 2008 and 2012 (HBV-HCC group) were enrolled in the present study. Clinical features, BMI, lipid profiles, presence of diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Cryptogenic HCC group was composed of 35 patients (19 males and 16 females) with a mean age of 70 ± 11 years. HBV-HCC group was composed of 406 patients (318 males and 88 females) with a mean age of 56 ± 7 years. Patients in the cryptogenic HCC group were older (p=0.001) and female dominant (p=0.042) than those in the HBV-HCC group. There were no differences in the laboratory test results including lipid profiles and Child-Turcotte-Pugh class between the two groups. Patients in the cryptogenic HCC group had higher prevalence of diabetes (37% vs. 17%, p=0.015), hypertension (49% vs.27%, p=0.051), metabolic syndrome (37% vs. 16%, p=0.001), and higher BMI (25.3 kg/m(2) vs. 24.1 kg/m(2), p=0.042) than those in the HBV- HCC group. The tumor stage was more advanced (stage III and IV) at diagnosis in the cryptogenic HCC group than in the HBV-HCC group (60% vs. 37%, p=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Cryptogenic HCC has clinical features similar to that of NAFLD and is diagnosed at a more advanced tumor stage.