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CPPD disease can affect patients' quality of life through its various clinical presentations. This mini-review discusses the evolution of CPPD from its discovery to current knowledge of its pathogenesis, genetic associations, diagnostics, and treatment options. Despite extensive research, the exact mechanisms of CPPD are not well understood, and there is a notable lack of knowledge about psychosocial impacts and patient experiences. This study aims to present a CPPD Disease Timeline identifying gaps in current knowledge and potential directions for future research. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of CPPD disease and emphasize the importance of continued research and innovation in this field.

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Fibromyalgia is characterised by widespread musculoskeletal pain, which may present with fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep and cognitive disturbances. It is the second most prevalent rheumatic disease. An accurate diagnosis is challenging, since its symptoms may resemble diverse conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, Raynaud syndrome, Sjögren syndrome, amongst others. Neuropathic pain and autonomic dysfunction in fibromyalgia suggest the involvement of the nervous system. Ion channels, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators may play a role. Small fibre neuropathy (SFN) may also cause chronic widespread pain. SFN may occur in 50% of fibromyalgia patients, but its role in the disease is unknown. Despite several efforts to synthesise the evidence on the mechanisms for pain in fibromyalgia, there are few studies applying an integrative perspective of neurochemical, immunological, and neuroanatomical characteristics, and their relevance to the disease. This protocol aims to clarify the mechanisms of the central and peripheral nervous system associated with pain in fibromyalgia. We will retrieve published studies from Web of Science, MEDLINE, Scopus, EBSCOhost, Ovid and Google Scholar. All clinical studies or experimental models of fibromyalgia reporting imaging, neurophysiological, anatomical, structural, neurochemical, or immunological characteristics of the central or peripheral nervous systems associated with pain will be included. Exclusion criteria will eliminate studies evaluating pain without a standardised measure, studies written in languages different from Spanish or English that could not be appropriately translated, and studies whose full-text files could not be retrieved after all efforts made. A narrative synthesis will be performed.

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Ultrasound (US) is a recognized imaging modality for the assessment of gout. Recently it is being explored for its potential role in the evaluation of subjects with asymptomatic hyperuricemia (AH). Preliminary reports demonstrated the presence of monosodium urate (MSU)-crystal deposits including aggregates, double contour sign and/or tophi in both intra-articular and periarticular tissues of AH individuals. Although these results are exciting, the value and potential application of US in AH remain to be clearly delineated. In this systematic literature review, we aim to summarise the recent publications regarding the role of US in the assessment of AH. We analyzed possible application of US in the daily clinical practice and its future clinical and research potential in the evaluation of AH individuals.

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BACKGROUND: Seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (SRA) is a condition that is not well understood and difficult to confirm by a conventional diagnostic process. We aimed to quantify the potential cost-savings of an alternative diagnostic process (ADP) imaging-based, for patients with presumptive SRA from everyday clinical practice. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis for patients with presumptive SRA who tested negative for both rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies, through an ADP imaging-based, that is a standard clinical practice in our center. After we confirmed the diagnosis of SRA or reclassified patients in terms of another proper diagnosis, we estimate direct costs in two scenarios: a conventional and ADP. We compared the cost of RA treatment during the first year against the cost of the most misdiagnosed treatment (osteoarthritis) found after applying the ADP to determine potential cost-savings. RESULTS: We included 440 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of SRA. According to the imaging-based ADP, SRA was confirmed in 106/440 (24.1%), unspecified RA in 9/440 (2.0%), and osteoarthritis in 325/440 (73.9%) of those patients. Although the costs of conventional diagnosis per patient is lower than those of ADP ($59,20 USD vs $269,57 USD), we found a potential drug cost-savings of $1,570,775.20 US Dollars after 1 year of correct treatment. CONCLUSION: An alternative diagnosis process, including X-rays, US and MRI imaging, and clinical and blood-test assessment, not only increased diagnostic certainty in patients referred for evaluation of presumptive SRA but also suggested a potential cost-savings in pharmacological treatments avoided in misdiagnosed patients.

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Peripheral neuropathy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis is associated with a maladaptive autoimmune response that may cause chronic pain and disability. Nerve conduction studies are the routine method performed when rheumatologists presume its presence. However, this approach is invasive, may not reveal subtle malfunctions in the early stages of the disease, and does not expose abnormalities in structures surrounding the nerves and muscles, limiting the possibility of a timely diagnosis. This work aims to present a narrative review of new technologies for the clinical assessment of peripheral neuropathy in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Through a bibliographic search carried out in five repositories, from 1990 to 2020, we identified three technologies that could detect peripheral nerve lesions and perform quantitative evaluations: (1) magnetic resonance neurography, (2) functional magnetic resonance imaging, and (3) high-resolution ultrasonography of peripheral nerves. We found these tools can overcome the main constraints imposed by the previous electrophysiologic methods, enabling early diagnosis.

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BACKGROUND: For more than seven decades, ultrasound has been used as an imaging and diagnostic tool. Today, new technologies, such as focused ultrasound (FUS) neuromodulation, have revealed some innovative, potential applications. However, those applications have been barely studied to deal with neuropathic pain (NP), a cluster of chronic pain syndromes with a restricted response to conventional pharmaceuticals. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the therapeutic potential of low-intensity (LIFUS) and high-intensity (HIFUS) FUS for managing NP. METHODS: We performed a narrative review, including clinical and experimental ultrasound neuromodulation studies published in three main database repositories. DISCUSSION: Evidence shows that FUS may influence several mechanisms relevant for neuropathic pain management such as modulation of ion channels, glutamatergic neurotransmission, cerebral blood flow, inflammation and neurotoxicity, neuronal morphology and survival, nerve regeneration, and remyelination. Some experimental models have shown that LIFUS may reduce allodynia after peripheral nerve damage. At the same time, a few clinical studies support its beneficial effect on reducing pain in nerve compression syndromes. In turn, Thalamic HIFUS ablation can reduce NP from several etiologies with minor side-effects, but some neurological sequelae might be permanent. HIFUS is also useful in lowering non-neuropathic pain in several disorders. CONCLUSION: Although an emerging set of studies brings new evidence on the therapeutic potential of both LIFUS and HIFUS for managing NP with minor side-effects, we need more controlled clinical trials to conclude about its safety and efficacy.

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BACKGROUND: Care models can affect the clinical outcome of patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to compare how an innovative model of a rheumatoid arthritis disease-management program can improve the clinical outcomes of patients compared to a conventional assessment approach. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of real-world data from clinical records of a cohort of 5078 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis who were followed up at the Center of Excellence in Rheumatoid Arthritis vs the clinical outcomes reported in the Colombian National Registry of Rheumatoid Arthritis. RESULTS: We found significant differences in the diagnosis and follow-up between the specialized Center program and the usual care reported by the Colombian National Registry (p<0.005), including the evaluation of rheumatoid factor, Anti-citrullinated antibodies Disease Activity Score, Health Assessment Questionnaire, number of visits to the rheumatologist, and clinical outcomes measured by the level of disease activity. In addition, when comparing the Center's clinical outcomes - from baseline to the last follow-up, we found an improvement in the level of disease activity, with patients classified in remission increasing from 20.8% to 58.5% (p<0.005), and a reduction in those with high disease activity from 18% to 4.7% (p<0.005). CONCLUSION: Real-world evidence showed that patients with rheumatoid arthritis who underwent follow-up under an innovative disease-management model improved their clinical outcomes compared with those patients in a conventional assessment program. These results could suggest a way of improving health policies for patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

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Clinical evaluation of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases through images is a challenge for the beginner rheumatologist since image diagnosis is an expert task with a long learning curve. The aim of this work was to present a narrative review on the main ultrasound computer-aided diagnosis systems that may help clinicians thanks to the progress made in the application of artificial intelligence techniques. We performed a literature review searching for original articles in seven repositories, from 1970 to 2019, and identified 11 main methods currently used in ultrasound computer-aided diagnosis systems. Also, we found that rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and idiopathic inflammatory myopathies are the four musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases most studied that use these innovative systems, with an overall accuracy of > 75%.

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