Introduction: Cranial nerve involvement in polyarteritis nodosa(PAN) is underrecognized and rarely reported. The aim of this article is to review the available literature and present an example of oculomotor nerve palsy in the course of PAN.Material and Methods: Evaluation of texts describing the analyzed problem using the terms “polyarteritis nodosa”, “nerve”, “oculomotor”, “cranial nerve” and “cranial neuropathy” for searching the PubMed database was done. Only full-text articles in English language with titles and abstracts were included in the analysis. As a guideline for the analysis of articles, the methodology described in the Principles of Individual Patient Data systematic reviews (PRISMA-IPD) was used.Results: After screening articles only 16 reported cases of PAN with cranial neuropathy were included in the analysis. In 10 the cranial neuropathy was reported as the initial manifestation of PAN with optic nerve involvement as the most frequent (62.5%); among these cases the oculomotor nerve was in-volved in 3 cases. Treatment with glucocorticosteroids and cyclophosphamide was the most com-mon.Conclusions: Although cranial neuropathy, especially oculomotor nerve palsy is a rare first neurological manifesta-tion of PAN, this clinical problem should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Especially patients with peripheral neuropathy, general symptoms, skin lesions and hepatitis B virus infection should be evaluated for cranial nerve involvement in the course of vasculitis. In the case of unclear involvement of the cranial nerves, PAN should also be considered in the differential diagnosis as the cause of symptoms and the first manifestation of the disease.

To investigate the association between cardiometabolic factors, obesity, radiographic severity, and symptomatic hand osteoarthritis (HOA), as the role of these factors in HOA remains unclear. A cross-sectional analysis in the EPIPorto cohort included participants with HOA (≥ 1 joint with Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade ≥ 2 and/or American College of Rheumatology criteria). Cardiovascular risk factors, anthropometric measures, and radiographic severity (sum of KL hand score [0–128]) and number of affected joints [0–32]) were analysed. We tested the association between these factors and symptomatic HOA (≥ 1 joint with KL ≥ 2 and hand pain in the last month) by multivariable logistic regression. Of the 858 participants with HOA (61% women, mean age 59.6 years), 807 met radiographic criteria, and 160 presented symptomatic HOA. Among these, 77% were overweight or obese, 81% hypertensive, 95% had dyslipidaemia, and 20% were diabetic. Body mass index, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio, were associated with symptomatic HOA (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00; 1.09), (OR 1.02, 95% CI 1.00; 1.04), (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01; 1.06). Diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidaemia showed no association. We observed an association between the KL score, the number of affected joints, and symptomatic HOA (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.07; 1.12), (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.06; 1.12). Increased central obesity and radiographic severity are associated with symptomatic HOA, highlighting the potential role of adiposity in HOA pain. These findings underscore the importance of weight management to improve pain outcomes in HOA. Furthermore, assessing radiographic changes may aid monitoring of disease symptoms. Further studies are needed to validate these associations and inform evidence-based clinical practice.

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has emerged as an early indicator of cardiac amyloidosis (CA) caused by transthyretin-associated (ATTR) mutations, possibly linked to adverse cardiovascular outcomes. This case series examines the relationship between idiopathic CTS and CA imaging diagnosis. Methods: Twenty-two patients from the cross-sectional study CarPoS (NCT05409833) were included. These patients underwent physical evaluation, laboratory exams, electrocardiography, echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, and scintigraphy with ^99mTc-3,3-diphosphono-1,2-propanodicarboxylic acid. Results: Four of the twenty-two patients included had ATTR cardiomyopathy. These patients presented left-ventricle hypertrophy and signs of infiltrative cardiomyopathy in echocardiograms and late gadolinium enhancement in CMR images without having any cardiovascular symptoms. Conclusions: Our findings suggest a high prevalence of CA in patients with bilateral idiopathic CTS, highlighting the importance of screening for CA in patients with CTS. Early detection could significantly impact patient prognosis, underscoring the need for further research into diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are at increased risk of fracture. Whether the type of renal osteodystrophy (ROD) contributes to fracture risk is not currently established since bone biopsies are not frequently performed in clinical practice. We aimed to evaluate the association of ROD subtypes, bone biomarkers, and fracture risk assessed with the FRAX® tool with the occurrence of fractures in predialysis CKD patients. Methods: Retrospective study with patients followed between 2014–2023. Blood tests, including bone-related biomarkers (BRB), and bone biopsies were performed at the beginning of follow-up. Data from dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan and clinically evident fractures were obtained from medical registries. Radiographs of the thoracic/lumbar spine were evaluated to detect vertebral fractures, and the FRAX® index without bone mineral density (BMD) was calculated with the web-based tool. Results: Median follow-up time was 7.5 ± 3 years and 9.3% of the patients had a bone fracture, with an incidence of 12/1000 patient-year. Patients who had a fracture had higher phosphorus levels (4.1 mg/dL vs 3.5 mg/dL, p = 0.047). Histomorphometric subtypes and BRB were not associated with incidence of fractures nor with fracture risk assessed by FRAX®. There was a tendency for lower bone volume in the group with fractures (p = 0.057). FRAX® (without BMD), regardless of the inclusion of CKD as secondary osteoporosis, showed an overall good diagnostic accuracy for predicting fractures in predialysis CKD. Conclusion: ROD subtypes were not associated with incidence of fractures in these patients. The discriminative ability of FRAX in this population emphasizes its usefulness in CKD predialysis patients.