L.Y. Ho

Tuen Mun Hospital · Department of Medicine and Geriatrics

Background To study the effect of osteoporosis on MACEs in a longitudinal cohort of patients with SLE. Methods Patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE and had a DEXA scan performed were followed longitudinally. The incidence of MACEs documented by imaging studies was evaluated. Osteoporosis/fracture at baseline was defined as a T score of <...

Background To study the prevalence and risk factors of fragility fractures in patients with SLE. Methods 383 patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE and had a DEXA scan performed (baseline) were longitudinally followed for new fragility fractures. Osteoporosis/fracture was defined as a DEXA T score <-2.5 or Z score <-2.0 at the hip/femoral...

Background To study the relationship between the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria and organ damage in patients with SLE Methods Patients involved in a cross-sectional validation study of the EULAR/ACR criteria and judged by a panel to be clinical SLE were studied. Those who fulfilled the EULAR/ACR criteria (last visit) were stratified into 2...

Background To study the effect of COVID-19 infection on disease flares and herpes zoster (HZ) reactivation in patients with SLE Methods We identified patients who fulfilled the SLICC criteria for SLE and had documented COVID-19 infection (Omicron and its variants) between Feb-Nov 2022 and SLE controls who did not have COVID-19 randomly matched for...

Objective: To study the predictive value of a positive anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) for a rheumatological diagnosis in an outpatient setting. Methods: Individuals who were referred to the rheumatology outpatient clinics because of a positive ANA between July 2014 and June 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Presenting symptoms in addition to a posit...

Objectives To compare the efficacy and safety of romozosumab (ROMO) and denosumab (DEN) in high-risk patients with glucocorticoid (GC)-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). Methods Design: A pilot open randomized controlled trial. Method: Adult patients (≥18 years) who were receiving daily prednisolone dose of ≥5mg/day for ≥12 months and had moderate/high...

Background Whether COVID-19 infection worsens SLE activity is uncertain. Objectives To study the effect of COVID-19 infection on disease flares and herpes zoster (HZ) reactivation in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Patients who fulfilled the ACR or SLICC criteria for SLE and were followed in our rheumatology clinics were...

Objectives To study the relationship between the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria and organ damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) Methods Patients involved in a cross-sectional validation study of the EULAR/ACR criteria and judged by a panel of rheumatologists to be clinical SLE were studied. Those who fulfilled the EULA...

To study the relationship of serum PCSK9 and disease activity and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥ 4 ACR criteria for SLE and consented for a biomarker study in 2009-2013 were included. Stored serum samples were assayed for PCSK9. PCSK9 levels were correlated wit...

Objectives To study the relationship between the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria and organ damage in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Patients involved in a cross-sectional validation study of the EULAR/ACR criteria and judged by a panel of rheumatologists to be clinical SLE were studied. Those who fulfilled the EUL...

Objectives The objective was to study the prevalence and risk factors of herpes zoster (HZ) infection in patients with rheumatic diseases.Methods Consecutive patients with rheumatic diseases not receiving biologic/targeted DMARDs who attended our rheumatology clinics between March and August 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Episodes of HZ infect...

Background The SIMPLE (SIMple Disease Assessment for People with Lupus Erythematosus) index is a composite numeric tool that captures disease activity from patients’ self-assessment with minimal physicians’ input. The SIMPLE index consists of 2 components: patient self-reported survey questionnaire (3 items from the lupus symptoms domain from the v...

Objectives To study the effect of serum PCSK9 on major cardiovascular adverse events (MACEs) in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥4 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and consented for a biomarker study between 2009 and 2012 were included. Stored serum samples from these patients were assa...

Background The aim of this study was to validate the 2019 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (EULAR/ACR) classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in antinuclear antibody (ANA)-positive Chinese patients. Methods Medical records of all adult patients who attended the rheumatology out-patient cli...

Objectives To study the prevalence and risk factors of fragility fractures in a longitudinal cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods All patients who fulfilled ≥4 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and have been registered in our cohort database since 1990 were included. Symptomatic fragility fractures, defined as those that occ...

Objectives To study the effect of osteoporosis on major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and mortality in a longitudinal cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Patients who fulfilled ≥4 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and participated in a cross-sectional study on osteoporosis in the year 2011 were studied. All patients...

Background: The fracture risk assessment tool has been widely used to stratify the 10-year fracture risk to guide therapy. Using the actual fracture data of a 10-year longitudinal cohort of older patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, we reported an underestimation of the tool in predicting major symptomatic osteoporotic fractures. Treatment...

Objectives To validate the 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria for SLE in Hong Kong Chinese patients and compare its performance with the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) and 1997 American college of rheumatology (ACR) criteria. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of consecutive patients who at...

Background Objectives To compare the actual fracture incidence over 10 years in a longitudinal cohort of patients using glucocorticoids (GCs) with the risk prediction from FRAX (fracture risk assessment tool). Methods Patients who attended our out-patient rheumatology clinics were included according to the following criteria: (1) adult patients ≥...

Objectives To validate the SIMPLE index for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity assessment in Chinese patients. Methods Adult patients (age ≥18 years) who fulfilled the 2013 SLICC criteria for SLE and were followed in the Rheumatology clinics of Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong were recruited in a cross-sectional study. Participants we...

Objectives To study the prevalence and risk factors of herpes zoster (HZ) infection in patients with rheumatic diseases. Methods Medical records of patients with rheumatic diseases who attended our out-patient rheumatology clinics between 2019 March and 2019 August were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who were using biological or targeted DMARD...

Objectives To compare the efficacy of denosumab and alendronate on raising spine bone mineral density (BMD) in long-term glucocorticoid (GC) users. Methods Adult patients receiving long-term prednisolone (≥2.5 mg/day for ≥1 year) were recruited and randomized to either subcutaneous denosumab (60 mg/6 months) or oral alendronate (70 mg/week). BMD (...

Objectives: To revisit the trend of survival of systemic lupus erythematosus in a cohort of Chinese patients over 25 years. Methods: Patients who fulfilled the 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and were followed in our hospital since 1995 were included. Patients were stratified into two groups according to the year of diagnosis: (1) 1995–2004 and (2) 2005–...

Background Objectives To compare the efficacy of denosumab (DEN) and oral alendronate (ALN) on spinal bone mineral density (BMD) in long-term glucocorticoid users. Methods Patients receiving long-term prednisolone treatment for medical illnesses were recruited. Inclusion criteria: (1) adult patients ≥18 years of age; (2) prednisolone ≥2.5mg/day f...

Background Herpes zoster (HZ) reactivation is fairly common in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, there is a paucity of studies that reported the risk factors of HZ reactivation in well-defined subsets of SLE patients. Objectives To study the prevalence of HZ reactivation in patients with active biopsy confirmed lupus nephr...

Background Objectives To report the 10-year outcome of a cohort of patients with lupus nephritis (LN) treated with combined glucocorticoids with either mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or tacrolimus (TAC) as induction in a randomized controlled trial (RCT). Methods 150 patients with active lupus nephritis were randomized to receive either MMF (2-3g/da...

Objectives To report the 10-year outcome of lupus nephritis (LN) treated with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) or tacrolimus (TAC) induction in a randomised controlled trial. Methods Patients with active LN were treated with MMF or TAC combined with high-dose prednisolone. Responders were switched to azathioprine (AZA) at month 6. Clinical outcomes at...

Objectives To study the prevalence of herpes zoster infection in patients with biopsy-confirmed lupus nephritis undergoing immunosuppressive therapies. Methods Patients who had histologically active lupus nephritis between 2004 and 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical and laboratory data at baseline and six months post-therapy were collect...

Objectives To study the safety and immunogenicity of a live-attenuated herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Adult SLE patients having a SLEDAI <6 and stable immunosuppressive treatment for ≥6 months were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to receive HZ vaccine (Zostavax) or placebo inj...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between baseline serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and SLE activity/flares over time. This is a longitudinal study of 276 patients who fulfilled ≥ 4 ACR criteria for SLE and recruited in the year 2011. Serum samples were collected at baseline and assayed for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 at the end of a...

Objectives To report the 5 year immunogenicity of a quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (GARDASIL) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Female SLE patients and healthy controls, aged 18–35 years, who received GARDASIL in the year 2011 and sero-converted 12 months post-vaccination were followed for the persistenc...

Objectives To study the prevalence of occult hepatitis B carrier status and its associated factors in patients with rheumatic diseases undergoing biological therapies Methods Consecutive adult patients with various rheumatic diseases who were currently receiving biological therapies between November 2016 and April 2017 were recruited in this cross...

Objectives To evaluate the safety and immune response of a live attenuated herpes zoster (HZ) vaccine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Methods Adult patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE and had a SLEDAI score <6 with stable immunosuppressive treatment for 6 m were recruited. Ex...

Objectives: To evaluate the 5-year immunogenicity of a quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine (GARDASIL) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Female SLE patients and controls, aged 18-35 years, who received GARDASIL in 2011 and sero-converted 12 months post-vaccination were followed for persistence of immunogeni...

Background The aim was to study urinary angiostatin, CXC chemokine ligand 4 (CXCL4) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) as biomarkers of renal disease in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Method Patients who fulfilled ≥ 4 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for SLE with active renal, active non-renal or inactive disease, an...

Objectives The aim of this study was to study the relationship between immunosuppressive drug treatment and survival in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Patients who fulfilled four or more American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE were followed longitudinally. Clinical characteristics, use of immunosuppressive agen...

Objectives: To study the effect of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) on organ damage and mortality in patients with SLE. Methods: Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE were assessed for the MetS in October 2010. The MetS was defined by the updated joint consensus criteria, using the Asian criteria for central obesity. Longitudin...

Background Our preliminary proteomic analysis revealed elevated levels of urinary angiostatin, CXCL4 and VCAM-1 in patients with active lupus nephritis Objectives To study the performance of urinary angiostatin, CXCL4 and VCAM-1 in differentiating between active renal and non-renal SLE. Methods Patients who fulfilled the ACR classification for SL...

Objectives To study the effect of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) on organ damage and mortality in patients with SLE. Methods Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE and were assessed for the presence of the MetS between 2010 and 2011 were included. Those patients who did not have MetS assessment or succumbed before 2010 were excl...

Objectives To study the effect of disease remission on organ damage and quality of life in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Patients who fulfilled the ACR classification for SLE were studied. Their remission status at last visit was determined by the European consensus (DORIS definition): (1) Complete remission (cl...

Objectives To study the relationship between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and flares of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a longitudinal cohort of Chinese patients. Methods Patients who fulfilled ≥4 of the ACR criteria for SLE were recruited from our rheumatology out-patient clinics in November 2011. Blood was taken at 10 AM and was assay...

Objectives To study the correlation between levels of the anti-TNF biologics and clinical efficacy in patients with inflammatory arthritis Methods Adult patients who fulfilled the criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), spondyloarthritis (SpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PSA) and were commenced on standard doses of the anti-TNF biologics were recruit...

Objectives: To study the prevalence of remission and its effect on damage and quality of life (QOL) in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Patients who fulfilled≥4 American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE were identified. Their remission status at last clinic visits was determined by the European consensus...

Background and aims To study the effect of the metabolic syndrome(MetS) on organ damage and mortality in patients with SLE. Methods Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE were assessed for the presence of the MetS in 2010. The MetS was defined by the updated joint consensus criteria, using the Asian criteria for central obesity...

Background and aims To study the effect of disease remission on organ damage and quality of life(QOL) in Chinese patients with SLE. Methods Adult patients who fulfilled the ACR criteria for SLE were identified and their remission status at last visits was determined by the European consensus criteria (complete/clinical remission ± immunosuppressiv...

Objectives To evaluate whether hyperuricemia is independently associated with cardiovascular events in a cross-sectional study of Chinese patients with SLE. Methods Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE were recruited. Fasting blood was taken for serum urate level, along with other atherosclerosis risk factors that included gl...

Objectives: To compare the effect of golimumab (GLM) and pamidronate (PAM) on clinical efficacy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) inflammation in axial spondyloarthritis (aSpA). Method: Patients who fulfilled the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis Society (ASAS) criteria for aSpA and had active disease [Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity...

Objectives To study the factors associated with renal remission, relapse and renal function decline in patients with lupus nephritis treated initially with combined steroid and MMF or Tac. Methods Data were extracted from a RCT of the efficacy of MMF vs Tac for induction treatment of lupus nephritis. All recruited patients were treated with high-d...

Objectives To evaluate the association of the use of individual immunosuppressive agents and mortality in a longitudinal cohort of SLE patients Methods Patients who fulfilled ≥4 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and followed in our rheumatology clinics between 1995 and 2014 were longitudinally followed. Data on demographic characteristics, clinical manifes...

Objectives To study the association between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and vascular events, end stage renal failure (ESRF) and mortality in patients with SLE Methods Patients who fulfilled ≥4 1997 ACR criteria for SLE and were followed in the rheumatology clinics of Tuen Mun Hospital, Hong Kong were studied. Inclusion criteria were those who had...

Objectives To study the standardized incidence ratio (SIR), time trend and risk factors of AVN in patients with SLE. Methods The records of all patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE in our unit between 1999 and 2014 were reviewed. Patients who developed AVN at any sites ever since the diagnosis of SLE were identified. A group of SLE contro...

Objectives To study the frequency of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Chinese patients with rheumatic diseases and the associated demographic, clinical and social factors. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire study on the use of CAM was carried out in patients who attended the rheumatology clinics of Tuen Mun and Pok Oi Hos...

Objectives To evaluate whether pregnancy is a risk factor for the onset of SLE in women of the reproductive age. Methods Female patients who had first onset of SLE during pregnancy between the age of 15 and 49 years were identified from our SLE cohort database (year 1999-2013). The incidence of SLE during pregnancy in women of the reproductive age...

To evaluate the effect of switching from oral bisphosphonates to denosumab on bone mineral density (BMD) in long-term glucocorticoid users. Adult patients who were receiving long-term prednisolone (≥2.5mg/day for ≥1year) and oral bisphosphonates (≥2years) were recruited. Participants were randomized to either continue oral bisphosphonates or switch...

Objective LupusPRO is a disease-targeted, patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure that was developed and validated for assessment of quality of life in US patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We present results of adapting the LupusPRO into Chinese and testing its psychometric properties in Chinese patients with SLE.Methods LupusPRO was...

Objectives To compare the efficacy of golimumab (GLM) and pamidronate (PAM) in the treatment of SpA. Methods Study design: an open randomized controlled trial Patients and methods: Inclusion criteria: (1) ≥18 years of age; (2) fulfills 2009 ASAS classification criteria for axial SpA; (3) Active spondylitis as defined by a BASDAI score of ≥4 (with s...

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of denosumab on bone mineral density (BMD) in patients receiving long-term glucocorticoids who do not have satisfactory response to bisphosphonate treatment. Methods Patients who were receiving long-term prednisolone treatment for their underlying medical illnesses were recruited. The inclusion criteria were: (1)...

Objectives To study the effect of renal damage on extra-renal organ damage and mortality in patients with SLE. Methods Patients who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE between 1995 and 2011 were longitudinally followed. Organ damage in 12 systems was assessed by the ACR SLICC damage scores (SDI). The cumulative rate of survival was studied by Kaplan-...

Objectives: To study the association of depressive/anxiety symptoms with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and work ability in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Consecutive patients with ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE were recruited. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depressi...

The objective of the study was to study the functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and its associated factors. Consecutive SSc patients and an equal number of age- and gender-matched healthy controls were recruited for the assessment of functioning and HRQoL by the Health assessment question...

Background Hepcidin is an acute phase reactant produced by hepatocytes that has been linked to anemia of chronic inflammation. Objectives To evaluate the serum hepcidin and interleukin (IL)-6 levels in patients with SLE and their relationship with hemoglobin, disease activity and organ damage. Methods Consecutive patients who fulfilled ³4 ACR crite...

Objectives Hepcidin is an acute phase reactant produced by hepatocytes that has been linked to chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis. The present study was carried out to evaluate the serum hepcidin level in patients with SLE and its relationship with disease activity, organ damage and coronary atherosclerosis. Methods Consecutive patients who f...

Objectives Suicide is one of the most devastating complications of chronic medical illnesses, including rheumatological disorders. We studied the absolute incidence of suicide and its standardized incidence ratio (SIR) in six rheumatic diseases in Hong Kong as compared to the general population. Methods Patients with the diagnostic codes of systemi...

Low back pain is one of commonest problems prompting a visit to the family physician. Up to 5% of patients with chronic low back pain in the primary care setting are diagnosed as having spondyloarthritis, which includes the prototype disease ankylosing spondylitis. Making a diagnosis of ankylosing spondylitis is often delayed for years, leading to...

To the Editor: Baseline erosiveness is a potent predictive factor used in daily practice for predicting a severe destructive disease course in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, there is no uniform definition of erosive disease at disease onset. The definitions used in some studies were highly variable: radiological evidence of erosions1,2, a co...

Objective The objective of this paper is to evaluate the efficacy of combined mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and tacrolimus (TAC) for lupus nephritis with suboptimal response to standard therapy.Methods Inclusion criteria for patients: (1) biopsy-confirmed active lupus nephritis; and (2) inadequate response to ≥2 immunosuppressive regimens. While pred...

Unlabelled: In this work we evaluate the prevalence of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and its impact on survival in Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We studied a prospective cohort of southern Chinese patients who fulfilled ≥4 American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE. The cumulative rate of survival over time...

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of combined low-dose mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and tacrolimus (Tac) for refractory lupus nephritis Methods Patients with refractory lupus nephritis were recruited. Inclusion criteria: (1) Active nephritis by renal biopsy within 24 months; (2) Failure to respond to >=2 regimens which consisted o...

Background Low vitamin D level has been linked to cardiovascular diseases and mortality in the general population. Hypovitaminosis D is associated with certain traditional vascular risk factors in patients with SLE. Objectives To study the relationship between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level in patients with SLE Me...

Objective: The 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been thoroughly studied for the test characteristics but it is unclear whether '2010 RA' has a different phenotype than '1987 RA' when assessing the severity of the disease course. Therefore this study com...

Objective To study the level of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and its relationship with disease activity, damage, and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Consecutive patients who fulfilled ≥4 American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE who did not have a concurrent infection w...

Objectives To study the relationship between damage in different organ systems and mortality in patients with SLE. Methods 679 patients who fulfilled at least 4 of the ACR criteria for SLE between 1995 and 2011 were prospectively followed. The cumulative rate of survival was studied by Kaplan-Meier’s plot. For those who died during the disease cour...

Objectives To study the effect of the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) on survival in Chinese patients with SLE Methods A cohort of 679 southern Chinese patients who fulfill at least 4 of the ACR criteria for SLE from 1995 to 2011 was studied. The status of the patients at last clinical visits (alive or death) was evaluated. The cumulative survival...

Objectives To study the presentation and outcome of membranous nephropathy in SLE in comparison with proliferative lupus glomerulonephritis. Methods Patients with biopsy firmed active lupus nephritis who were recruited in a randomized trial of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and tacrolimus (Tac) from 2005 to 2011 were studied. Participants were divided...

Objectives To examine the treatment outcome at 1 year of patients treated with tight control of the disease in a prospective cohort of patients with newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods All patients with newly diagnosed RA according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria between 2010 and 2011 were studied. Demographic data, cli...

Objectives To evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of GARDASIL, a quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods Women with SLE aged 18–35 years who had stable disease were recruited to receive GARDASIL vaccination and an equal number of age-matched healthy women were also vaccinated....

To study the sensitivity and specificity of vitamin D deficiency for predicting disease activity and damage of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in comparison with anti-dsDNA and anti-C1q. Consecutive patients who fulfilled four or more ACR criteria for SLE were studied. Levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, anti-C1q, anti-dsDNA and complement levels we...

To examine the life expectancy, standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), and causes of death in 6 groups of patients from Hong Kong with different rheumatic diseases. Patients with a diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), systemic vasculitis (SV), or systemic...

The objective of this study is to evaluate the specificity and sensitivity of antinucleosome, anti-C1q, and anti-dsDNA antibodies for detecting concurrent disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Consecutive patients were recruited for serological testing of anti-dsDNA, IgG-antinucleosome, IgG-anti-C1q, and complement levels. SLE dis...

To study the efficacy of raloxifene in preventing bone mineral density (BMD) loss in women receiving long-term glucocorticoids (GC). The study took the form of a parallel-group randomised double-blinded placebo-controlled trial. Postmenopausal women without hypercoagulability risk factors who were prevalent GC users were randomised to receive eithe...

To evaluate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Consecutive patients with RA, AS, or PsA who attended our outpatient arthritis clinics between July and November 2009 were recruited for a study of atherosclerotic risk factors and the metaboli...

The objective is to study the annual incidence and standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in a cohort of Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). VTE events of SLE patients occurring between 1999 and 2008 were identified from our database, and the annual incidence of VTE was calculated according to the c...

To study the annual incidence and standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The annual incidence of CVA from 1999 to 2007 in a longitudinal cohort of SLE patients was calculated each year and compared with that of the regional population within the same study period. Ag...

To examine the effect of disease activity and damage on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Consecutive SLE patients and matched controls were recruited for a study of HRQoL using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36). SLE activity and damage was assessed by the Safety of Oestrogens...

To study the annual incidence and standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of a longitudinal cohort of Chinese patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Annual numbers of new cases and deaths in a longitudinal cohort of patients with SLE between 2000 and 2006 retrieved from a database were compared with regional population and death rates expecte...

The aim of this study is to determine the risk and predictive factors for work disability in patients with SLE. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was performed to evaluate the employment status of a sample of consecutive Chinese patients with SLE. Demographic, socioeconomic data (age, gender, marital status, years of education and household inc...

To report the efficacy and toxicity of rituximab in the treatment of refractory polymyositis. Adult patients with active polymyositis as evidenced by persistent proximal muscle weakness, elevated creatine kinase (CK) level, and features of active myositis on electromyography who were refractory to corticosteroids and at least 2 other immunosuppress...

To study the efficacy of rituximab in active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients refractory to disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) including the tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha antagonists. Adult patients with active RA despite adequate therapies with conventional DMARDs or anti-TNFalpha agents for at least 3 months were recruited. Inc...

We conducted the current study to compare the incidence and risk factors of arterial thrombosis in lupus and non-lupus primary glomerulonephritis. We identified patients in whom lupus nephritis and non-lupus primary glomerulonephritis were diagnosed between 1993 and 2003 using our lupus cohort database and pathology registry. We analyzed the cumula...