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Background Chronic hip pain is one of the most common and difficult-to-treat causes of disability. Our study's primary aim was to investigate the effects of ultrasound and fluoroscopy-guided radiofrequency thermocoagulation of the femoral and obturator nerve articular branches on chronic hip pain, and the secondary aim was to determine its effects on hip function and quality of life. Methods Fifty-three patients with hip pain lasting more than three months were enrolled in the study. VPS scale and WOMAC, SF-12 questionnaires were applied to the patients before and in the first, third, and sixth months following the procedure. Results Of the patients, 60.4% were female, and 39.6% were male. Hip pain was caused by osteoarthritis in 77.1%, postoperative hip pain in 12.5%, malignancy in 8.3%, and avascular necrosis in 2.1%. The VPS scores were 8.9 ± 1.1 (mean±SD) in the baseline period, 2.4 ± 2.5 in the first postoperative week, 3.8 ± 2.5 in the first month, 5.1 ± 2.8 in the third month, and 5.8 ± 2.7 in the sixth month, with a significant decrease in VPS score (P  < .001). One patient developed a motor deficit that improved spontaneously. Conclusions We concluded that radiofrequency thermocoagulation application to the articular branches of the femoral and obturator nerves provides pain relief, hip function improvement, and better quality of life (better physical component scores but no improvement in mental component scores in SF-12) for up to 6 months in chronic hip pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We aimed to evaluate the incidence of acute pericarditis following cardioneuroablation (CNA) and to compare this with patients undergoing left atrial (LA) radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods and Results: This is a single‐center prospective study. During the study period, CNA for vasovagal syncope was performed in 42 patients, pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) for paroxysmal AF in 46 patients, and posterior wall isolation (PWI) in addition to PVI for persistent AF in 22 patients. Pericarditis was reported by 18 (16.4%) patients overall: 1 (2.4%) patient in CNA group, 8 (17.4%) patients in PVI group, and 9 (40.9%) patients in PWI (p <.001). On univariable logistic regression analysis, CNA was associated with a lower risk of pericarditis (odds ratio 0.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01–0.97), while ablation of PWI plus PVI was associated with a higher risk of pericarditis compared with PVI (odds ratio 3.29, 95% CI 1.05–10.3). Conclusion: This study shows that pericarditis is extremely uncommon following CNA and is significantly less frequent than following AF ablation. This difference is likely related to the much lower amount of LA ablation necessary in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is the most common pediatric rheumatologic disorder with unknown etiology. Currently, no population-based data are available regarding the distribution of categories and frequency of uveitis in patients with JIA in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of JIA-associated uveitis (JIAU) and distribution of JIA categories in a Turkish JIA cohort. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 500 randomized patients in four pediatric rheumatology clinics in Turkey. Results: Oligoarticular JIA (oJIA) was the most common JIA disease category in this study cohort (38.8%). The frequencies of the other categories were as follows: enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), 23.2%; rheumatoid factor (RF)–negative polyarthritis, 15.6%; systemic arthritis, 12.2%; juvenile psoriatic arthritis, 5.2%; undifferentiated arthritis, 2.8%; and RF-positive polyarthritis, 2.2%. JIA-associated uveitis was observed in 6.8% of patients at a mean (Standard Deviation, SD) age of 9.1 (3.8) years over a mean JIA disease duration of 4 (1.9) years. Uveitis developed after joint disease, with a mean (SD) duration of 1.8 (1.9) years. Patients with oJIA had the highest rate of uveitis (12.9%) followed by patients with ERA (5.2%) and polyarticular RF-negative disease (3.8%). Compared with persistent oJIA, the extended oJIA category had a > 3-fold higher risk of uveitis (11.3% vs 27.7%; odds ratio, 3.38 [95% Confidence Interval, 1.09–10.4]). The most frequently administered drug after development of uveitis was tumor necrosis factor–alpha inhibitors (38.2%). Five patients (14.7%) had uveitis-related complications that required surgical intervention. Conclusions: Turkish pediatric patients with JIA experience a lower frequency of oJIA and higher frequency of ERA than their white European counterparts; the occurrence of uveitis is also somewhat lower than expected. Geographic and ethnic factors may affect these differences and need further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]