Demyelination occurring during anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha therapy for inflammatory arthritides.

OBJECTIVE: To review the occurrence of neurologic events suggestive of demyelination during anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (anti-TNFalpha) therapy for inflammatory arthritides. METHODS: The Adverse Events Reporting System of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was queried following a report of a patient with refractory rheumatoid arthritis who developed confusion and difficulty with walking after receiving etanercept for 4 months. RESULTS: Nineteen patients with similar neurologic events were identified from the FDA database, 17 following etanercept administration and 2 following infliximab administration for inflammatory arthritis. All neurologic events were temporally related to anti-TNFalpha therapy, with partial or complete resolution on discontinuation. One patient exhibited a positive rechallenge phenomenon. CONCLUSION: Further surveillance and studies are required to better define risk factors for and frequency of adverse events and their relationship to anti-TNFalpha therapies. Until more long-term safety data are available, consideration should be given to avoiding anti-TNFalpha therapy in patients with preexisting multiple sclerosis and to discontinuing anti-TNFalpha therapy immediately when new neurologic signs and symptoms occur, pending an appropriate evaluation.     

Consensus on melanonychia nail plate dermoscopy

This statement, focused on melanonychia and nail plate dermoscopy, is intended to guide medical professionals working with melanonychia and to assist choosing appropriate management for melanonychia patients. The International Study Group on Melanonychia was founded in 2007 and currently has 30 members, including nail experts and dermatopathologists with special expertise in nails. The need for common definitions of nail plate dermoscopy was addressed during the Second Meeting of this Group held in February 2008. Prior to this meeting and to date (2010) there have been no evidence-based guidelines on the use of dermoscopy in the management of nail pigmentation.     

Surgical management of ingrown toenails – an update overdue

For decades, every year sees a wide number of articles about treatment of ingrown toenails. There is still a debate about the cause of this painful condition. Surgical treatments rely on two main approaches: either narrowing the nail plate or debulking the soft tissues. It is up to the surgeon to select the most appropriate approach in each case. All procedures cited in this article have high cure rates as long as they are properly performed. As with all surgical procedures, they are operator dependent. Chemical cautery is the easiest and most versatile technique that may help in almost all instances for lateral ingrowing. For distal embedding and very hypertrophic and exuberant lateral folds, debulking with secondary intention healing is the most effective and easy to perform, with great results.     

Peptide specificities of myelin basic protein-reactive human T-cell clones

Forty myelin basic protein (BP)-reactive T-cell clones were isolated from a patient with multiple sclerosis and used to identify human T-cell recognition sites on the BP molecule. At least three sites have been identified: one in the N-terminal half of the molecule (residues 1-97), one in the C-terminal (residues 98-170), and one which spans residues 97-98. The clones exhibited a marked preference for the C-terminal half of the molecule. No cross-reactivity with measles virus was detected. These clones will be useful for both the further delineation of the human T-cell recognition sites on BP and the generation of anticlonotypic monoclonal antibodies.