Faculty Bibliography

Fourteen patients, 12 of whom were women, with an age range from 26 to 56 years, presented with progressive or recurrent optic neuropathy, despite conventional doses of corticosteroid, and laboratory evidence of collagen vascular disease. The visual loss was severe and most had an acuity less than 20/200. Megadose corticosteroid therapy improved the vision in 11 of the 12 patients. Continued oral prednisone and cytotoxic drugs were necessary to maintain vision in nine patients. Patients with autoimmune optic neuropathy must be differentiated from cases with idiopathic optic neuritis or multiple sclerosis to facilitate the appropriate therapy

A ring of proliferative osteophytes at the junction of the femoral head and neck has been described as a characteristic finding in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. A review of 55 cases of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, without evidence of sacroiliitis, revealed an identical ridge of osteophytes in 5

To determine the manner in which small protein antigens enter the synovium and are localized, horseradish peroxidase (molecular weight 40,000) was injected by intravenous and intraarticular routes. Passage of antigen from capillary lumen to joint space and vice versa occurred primarily across fenestrated vessels. Antigen localized to collagen fibers and lining cells. At low concentrations of antigen, antigen was taken up predominantly by marcophages, whereas at higher concentrations both macrophages and fibroblast-like lining cells accumulated antigen