In this review article, newborn hip screening experience in Türkiye was summarized. The nationwide newborn hip screening program was officially initiated in 2013. The program currently includes the ultrasonographic examination of the hips of almost all newborns within the first two months of life. The rate of minor surgical interventions (closed/open reduction and casting) was 0.47 per 1,000 live births in 2015 and was 0.89 per 1,000 live births in 2020. Thus, an increase of 89% in the rate of minor surgical interventions was observed. The rate of major surgical interventions (pelvic/femoral osteotomies) was 0.74 per 1,000 live births in 2015 and was 0.21 per 1,000 live births in 2020. Thus, a decrease of 72% in the rate of major surgical interventions was observed between 2015 and 2020. While minor surgical interventions constituted about 39% of the overall surgical interventions in 2015, this ratio raised to 81% in 2020. Based on the experiences in Türkiye universal newborn ultrasonography (US) hip screening is advocated to lessen the rate of extensive surgeries in developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) during childhood and adulthood and to have as many as possible functional hips in the long-term follow-up of patients with DDH.

Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is a rare malignancy with a high incidence. Early diagnosis can reduce the rate of amputations and increase survival, however, this is typically delayed. The diagnosis and treatment of smaller lesions have a better prognosis; nonetheless, patients present to physicians when the soft tissue mass is large with obvious signs of red flags. In addition, the symptoms of this disease are highly non-specific and overlap greatly with benign conditions, resulting in a lack of clinical suspicion and low awareness among practitioners and the general public. Thusly, it is entitled as “the loneliest cancer”. This can make an accurate diagnosis difficult, with a great proportion of misdiagnoses leading subsequent inadvertent to incomplete STS excision, affecting the overall prognosis of the disease and devastating consequences in the disease process. A timely and precise diagnosis is essential because half of people with STS progress toward quietly aggressive illness. The purpose of this review is to raise awareness of STSs so that early recognition, accurate work-up, overview of conventional treatment plans, and appropriate referral to a tumor center can be achieved, avoiding whoop situations, and improving patient outcomes. In addition, insight into the advances in immunotherapy, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI) can lead to STS diagnosis and treatment prognosis.

Upon self-reflection, some clinicians privately confess a lack of confidence in being able to safely perform trigger point dry needling (TrPDN) or trigger point injection (TrPI) on craniofacial muscles. Procedural performance anxiety seems to be more pronounced relative to those muscles that cannot be palpated and/or have an increased risk of iatrogenic injury to neurovascular structures. Participatory action ultrasound imaging (PAUI) can be a useful tool in enhancing clinician confidence. A clinician-subject with a left lateral pterygoid trigger point was dry-needled under ultrasound guidance by a clinician-needler with extensive training and experience relative to evaluation and treatment of patients with craniofacial pain. Prior to PAUI, both the clinician-needler and clinician-observer describe low-to-moderate anxiety in the performance of TrPDN of the lateral pterygoid, using a lateral-to-medial approach. By contrast, both the clinician-needler and clinician-observer expressed high anxiety, objectively confirmed by the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) form Y-1 (STAI Y-1), in the performance of a newly learned cephalo-caudal approach. Following an initial round of clinical training without PAUI, subjective anxiety remained high despite a lower theoretical risk to the maxillary artery using the cepalo-caudal approach. A second round of training was performed with the addition of PAUI; the clinician-needler was able to reach the target tissue within 2 min in each of 3 attempts. Upon visual inspection and interpretation of the images and cine, the clinician-needler and clinician-observer both expressed a “significant” decrease in self-reported anxiety in performing the cephalo-caudal approach, objectively verified by improvements in the STAI Y-1 score of both clinicians. This case report presents PAUI as a means for future research and clinician education regarding risk assessment of TrPDN or TrPI of muscles with risk of iatrogenic injury.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a prevalent chronic disease that is associated with numerous comorbidities. Accurate assessment of these coexisting conditions, as reported by clinicians, is critical for an improved understanding of the impact of the disease and patient care. This perspective aims to evaluate the utility of real-world data (RWD) for enhancing the understanding of comorbidities in RA and to assess its potential in reshaping clinical management. RWD approaches, specifically the use of structured databases or data extracted from electronic health records, offer promising alternatives to overcome the limitations of traditional methodologies. Structured databases provide a systematic approach to data analysis, utilizing diagnosis codes to study large patient cohorts, revealing the prevalence of conditions, and demonstrating the potential for long-term disease trend analysis. Meanwhile, natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI) image analysis can bridge the gap between structured and unstructured data, by extracting meaningful information from unstructured fields such as free text or imaging. NLP has proven effective in the identification of RA patients and research outcomes, while AI image analysis has enabled the discovery of hidden findings in cardiovascular assessments, establishing a basis for the assessment of comorbidities in RA. However, while the benefits of using RWD are substantial, challenges remain. Ensuring comprehensive data capture, managing missing data, and improving data detection are key areas requiring attention. The involvement of clinicians and researchers in rheumatology is crucial in unlocking the potential of RWD studies, offering the promise of significant improvements in disease characterization and patient health outcomes.

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a common condition that affects the spine and peripheral joints, characterized by the progressive ossification of ligaments and tendons. It is a non-inflammatory degenerative disease that affects predominantly the elderly population. It has been associated with reduced mobility and chronic pain, which can have a significant impact on patients’ quality of life (QOL). Although DISH has always been considered a benign condition, patients with DISH report higher levels of pain, stiffness, and disability compared to the general population. It can affect their ability to perform daily activities and participate in social and recreational activities. In addition, extra-spinal manifestations such as enthesopathy and involvement of peripheral joints, but still dysphagia and airway obstruction have been described in DISH. These, although not as common, when present result in signs and symptoms significantly impacting the patient’s QOL. The objective of this review is to assess the QOL in individual with DISH. This involves an examination of various facets of the condition, including pain, spinal and extraspinal manifestations, fractures, and metabolic syndrome.

Remote monitoring technologies (RMTs) are an emerging tool for assessing, monitoring, and following up on patients with chronic diseases including autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRDs). The best use of these exponentially expanding technologies warrants optimum evidence. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory process that requires close monitoring of disease activity, response to treatment, and the potential adverse effects. Though there are several studies that have explored RMTs in RA, there is little head-to-head comparison between the individual technologies or the standard of care. Before investing in potentially high-cost strategies like RMTs, it is prudent to estimate their pragmatic role in the management and potentially with long-term follow-up including drug titration. A thorough search of the literature was conducted across PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and WebOfScience databases for recent and relevant literature looking at the acceptance, practical utility, and outcomes in RA using RMTs. This scoping review aims to summarize the current level of evidence in favor of RMTs, estimate real-world benefits and costs, potential hazards and limitations, and finally, identify future studies needed before endeavoring to mainstream RMTs. It emphasizes randomized trials using RMTs, patients reported outcomes and disparities in the usage of RMTs.

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disorder affecting about 2% of the population worldwide which is associated with significant morbidity. The disease usually presents as raised, well-demarcated erythematous plaques with adherent silvery scales. Psoriasis can appear at any age but it has two peaks occurring at 15–20 and 55–60 years of age. It affects males and females equally. Despite the multitude of investigations about psoriasis and even development of drugs with satisfactory results, its pathogenesis is not fully understood yet and its course is unpredictable. Various environmental triggers, e.g., obesity, stress and drugs may induce disease in genetically susceptible patients. Although psoriasis was considered primarily as a disease of the skin, more investigations have been revealed its systemic nature. Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) may complicate up to one-third of cases of psoriasis vulgaris (PV). Also, the association between psoriasis and a variety of other immune-mediated disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and celiac disease (CD) has been confirmed in various studies. Moreover, a growing body of evidences indicates that psoriasis shares some common histological and phenotypical properties with the spectrum of osteoimmunological diseases such as Paget’s disease of bone (PDB). Thus, exploring the common molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying psoriasis and related disorders is of paramount importance for better elucidating disease pathogenesis and designing more targeted treatments.