van Aken J, van Bilsen J H, Allaart C F, Huizinga T W, Breedveld F C
Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2003 Sep-Oct;21(5 Suppl 31):S100-5.
In 1993 a special Early Arthritis Clinic (EAC) was established at the Department of Rheumatology of the Leiden University Medical Center in order to detect and treat inflammatory disorders early in the disease state, especially early rheumatoid arthritis. Patients with confirmed arthritis of recent onset (less than 2 years) were included by rheumatologists and trained research nurses. Parameters of first and follow-up visits (3, 6 and 9 months and yearly) that were entered in the EAC-database include the medical history, physical-diagnostic examination, laboratory tests, questionnaires, radiographic joint scores and diagnosis. This database enables us to conduct research on arthritis, with an emphasis on rheumatoid arthritis, in many ways. Physicians and basic scientists have studied cellular immunology and genetic, environmental and clinical risk factors in order to determine the pathophysiologic mechanisms of inflammatory arthritis. The present article is a review on reports published from the EAC. Over the past ten years, these reports have been highly relevant for both daily clinical practice and research. Present and planned future studies, as described in this article, reconfirm the importance of an EAC framework to ensure that research continues on this disease in the Leiden EAC area.
1993年，莱顿大学医学中心风湿病科设立了一个特殊的早期关节炎诊所（EAC），以便在疾病早期阶段检测和治疗炎症性疾病，尤其是早期类风湿关节炎。确诊为近期发病（不到2年）的关节炎患者由风湿病学家和经过培训的研究护士纳入。录入EAC数据库的首次就诊和随访（3、6和9个月以及每年）参数包括病史、体格诊断检查、实验室检查、问卷、关节影像学评分和诊断。该数据库使我们能够在许多方面对关节炎，尤其是类风湿关节炎进行研究。内科医生和基础科学家研究了细胞免疫学以及遗传、环境和临床风险因素，以确定炎症性关节炎的病理生理机制。本文是对EAC发表报告的综述。在过去十年中，这些报告对日常临床实践和研究都具有高度相关性。如本文所述，目前和计划中的未来研究再次证实了EAC框架对于确保莱顿EAC地区继续开展该疾病研究的重要性。
