Types of arthritis

Causes of polyarticular symmetric arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Viral arthritis (Hepatitis, parvovirus EBV)

Causes of monoarticular arthritis

Antiphospholipid Syndrome mnemonic

Hello!

Lemme tell you about APLA today :)

It is an autoantibody-mediated acquired thrombophilia characterized by recurrent arterial or venous

thrombosis and/or pregnancy morbidity.

Study group discussion: Ferritin

Hello everyone!


Why do ferritin levels increase in Rheumatoid arthritis?
It is an acute phase protein.
The levels increase in serum as well as in synovial fluid. The rise is more in synovial fluid because of local production of ferritin in the inflamed joint.
Ferritin levels show a positive correlation with ESR, CRP, platelet count, and DAS score.
And a negative correlation with hematocrit levels.

Is there a difference of levels in inactive and active disease?
Yes, the levels are lower in inactive RA patients because of iron deficiency.
Synovial ferritin production in active RA leads to increase of ferritin in active disease.

Gold standards for diagnosis of iron deficiency in RA?
1. Bone marrow iron stain
2. Serum transferrin receptor analysis

What leads to high ferritin levels in SLE?
Ferritin synthesis is induced by interleukins IL-1, IL-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) alpha in hepatocytes.  In SLE, there is defect in IL-1 production while IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels are increased. So, the high levels of ferritin are due to IL-6 and TNF-alpha. (IL-1 does not play a major role in the synthesis of ferritin)
The ferritin levels are correlated with ANA titre, anti-dsDNA titre, and SLEDAI score.
(No significant correlation with acute phase parameters and negative correlation with complement levels)

Zika virus infection and the Alzheimers'

Hello everyone!


The mosquito-borne zika virus has spread to most of the parts of Latin America, Pacific islands and the US. It has been recently linked to Alzheimers' disease and depression!

Sjogren's syndrome mnemonic

Here's a short post about Sjogrens syndrome.

Hodgkins lymphoma and minimal change disease mnemonic

Which nephrotic syndrome is associated with Hodgkins lymphoma?

Lymphoma usually causes membranous nephropathy.

But Hodgkins is a weirdo which minimal change disease.

Mnemonic: Kids get MCD usually, so "Hodgkid"

Mnemonic by DJ AweSpear sent to us in our study group. Thanks!

Membranous glomerulonephritis mnemonic

Most common cause of nephrotic syndrome in adults.

Associated with clots - DVT, renal vein thrombosis and PE are common.

Nephrotic syndrome associated with malignancy.

It's membranous glomerulonephritis! :D

Study group discussion: Fall of fever by crisis and fall of fever by lysis

Difference between fall of fever by crisis and fall of fever by lysis ?

In fall of fever by crisis, there's sudden decrease in temperature (Mostly due to treatment).

In fall of fever by lysis, reduction in temperature occurs gradually.

Typhoid fever falls by lysis.
(Step ladder pattern!)

Dengue fever falls by crisis.

Systemic sclerosis autoantibodies mnemonic

Today, I forgot which antibodies scleroderma is associated with T_T

Apparently, Qbanks don't write Scl-70 in their options. They like writing "Autoantibodies against topoisomearase I" and make my life difficult.

Anyway, here's my attempt to remember this next time. I don't know if it'll work. But hey, no harm trying?

Mauskopf facies

Hello!
Here's a fact I read today.

"Mauskopf" means "Mouse head" in German.

IkaN be a Khaleesi

Hello!
This post is from the authors diary.

Game of thrones fan, continue reading.

Someone sent me this which is pretty hilarious. I sent it to two of my friends, one added more to it and the other suggested I put it on the blog xD

Different types of skin lesions (as in rashes)

                          Hey guys, we started Internal Medicine Last week, so we were studying about different types of skin lesion as in rashes in Harrison’ Internal Medicine 19e. So I made little chart myself to memorize it. So I thought to share it with you all.

Polymyalgia rheumatica and giant cell arteritis mnemonic

Here's a mini post for the day!

What are the symptoms of Polymyalgia rheumatica? What is it associated with?