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To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for thromboembolic events in patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM).We retrospectively analyzed 1144 consecutive patients with IIM for arterial and venous thromboses and compared them with age- and sex-matched IIM patients without thrombosis. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze risk factors for thrombosis.Twenty-four (2.1%) patients had arterial or venous thromboses (mean age, 62.6 ± 11.6 years; range, 33-81 years). Thromboembolic events occurred in 54.2% (13/24) of patients within 6 months before or after IIM diagnosis. Thrombosis patients had a higher Cutaneous Dermatomyositis Disease Area and Severity Index score (p = 0.028), higher myositis disease activity assessment visual analogue scale score (MYOACT) (p 0.001), and a greater proportion of them had varicose veins (p = 0.001), surgical history in the past 3 months (p = 0.039), malignancy (p = 0.018), and infection (p 0.001). The manual muscle test 8 score (p 0.001) and albumin level (p = 0.003) were lower in thrombosis patients. There was no significant difference between the two groups in glucocorticoid pulse therapy; however, intravenous immunoglobulin therapy was more commonly used in thrombosis patients (p = 0.04). In multivariable regression models, malignancy, infection, longer duration of glucocorticoid treatment, and higher MYOACT were risk factors for thrombosis. The cumulative survival time of IIM patients with thrombosis was significantly shorter than that of controls.Malignancy, infection, longer duration of glucocorticoid use, and increased myositis disease activity are risk factors for thrombosis. Patients with these risk factors should undergo screening for thrombosis. Key Points • To investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for thromboembolism events in patients with IIM, we performed a retrospective study with IIM patients who experienced a thromboembolic event. • We found that malignancy, infection, longer duration of glucocorticoid treatment, and a higher level of myositis disease activity were risk factors for thrombosis. • The results suggest that patients with the above risk factors should undergo screening for thrombosis.

To date, structural health monitoring (SHM) has been used in several long-span bridges and even some middle-span bridges. Many monitoring sensors are usually arranged based on traditional structural mechanical analysis, such as load tests and engineering experiences. Moreover, several studies have also been carried out to reduce the number of monitoring sensor deployments and improve the pertinence of monitoring sensor arrangements. One example is structural robustness analysis, which can be used to locate the vulnerable and weak parts of a bridge to determine the arrangement of SHM sensors. In this paper, a strain energy index is first proposed to evaluate structural robustness. The universal applicability of the evaluation index is also verified by energy principle, and then this index can be widely accepted for engineering applications. A theoretical numerical simulation of the structural robustness of a simply supported beam subjected to different damage effects is then carried out. Different damage locations, different damage degrees and different moving speeds are considered. With the consideration of the same structural type, an in-service simply supported girder bridge is also presented as the verification case study. The bridge once experienced an explosion caused by a moving fireworks vehicle. The monitoring point arrangement based on load tests and engineering experiences can be verified to be highly consistent with the theoretical numerical simulation result. This study provides a method for the SHM point arrangement of this kind of bridge. The structural robustness strain energy evaluation index is also acceptable for other kinds of bridges. The inconvenience caused by traditional structural analysis, such as the temporary closing of road traffic, can also be greatly reduced.