LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS SYSTEMIC

What awaits you at Centrokinetic?

Centrokinetic welcomes patients, having a complete rheumatology department, a medical branch that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery of patients with non-surgical musculoskeletal disorders. These conditions are usually painful, acute, or, most often, chronic, preventing the proper functioning of the musculoskeletal system. They are generally called rheumatism or rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

Most of the times, the patient's evaluation is complex, multidisciplinary, considering the systemic, generalized character of most rheumatological diseases, that is why Centrokinetic has experienced doctors:

• Rheumatologists: Dr. Alizzi Khalid and Dr. Oana Olteanu.
• Medical rehabilitation doctors: Dr. Tache Georgiana, Dr. Edis Mustafa, Dr. Matei Adina, Dr. Czego Renata.
• Orthopedic doctors: Dr. Andrei Bogdan, Dr. Vlad Gican and Dr. Crintea Alexandru
• Radiologists: Dr. Pantu Cosmin and Dr. Ghiea Sorin 
• Neurologists: Dr. Rotaru Bogdan, Dr. Simona Man and Dr. Simion Laurentiu
• Doctor of nutrition and metabolism diseases: Dr. Elian Viviana

What is systemic lupus erythematosus?

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease. In this condition, the immune system incorrectly attacks healthy tissue. It can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs. SLE is more common in women than in men with a ratio of almost 10 to 1. It can occur at any age. However, it most often occurs in young women between the ages of 15 and 44. In the US, the disease affects more African-Americans, Asians, Caribbean Africans, and Hispanic Americans compared to Caucasians.

Symptoms

Symptoms vary from person to person and are inconsistent. All patients with SLE have joint pain and edema (swelling) at some point. Sometimes patients develop arthritis. SLE often affects the joints of the fingers, hands, wrists, and knees.

Other common symptoms include: deep chest pain, fatigue, fever for no other reason, general discomfort, restlessness or feeling sick, hair loss, weight loss, canker sores, sensitivity to sunlight, rash - A "butterfly" rash develops in about half of people with SLE. (The rash is seen mainly on the cheeks and nose. It gets worse in sunlight), swollen lymph nodes.

To be diagnosed with lupus, you must have 4 of 11 common signs of the disease. Almost all people with lupus have a positive test for antinuclear antibody (ANA). However, having a positive ANA alone does not mean you have lupus.

At Centrokinetic, our doctors will perform a complete clinical examination. You may have a rash, arthritis, or edema in the ankles. There may be an abnormal sound called pericardial rubbing or pleural rubbing. The doctor will also do a nervous system exam.

Our medical team will come in addition to the investigations to establish a correct diagnosis, with imaging investigations (musculoskeletal ultrasound, joint MRI), functional tests (electromyography), and arthrocentesis.

Discover the open MRI imaging center in our clinic. Centrokinetic has a state-of-the-art MRI machine, dedicated to musculoskeletal conditions, in the upper and lower limbs. The MRI machine is open so that people suffering from claustrophobia can do this investigation. The examination duration is, on average, 20 minutes.

Treatment

There is no cure for SLE. The goal of treatment is to control symptoms. Severe symptoms involving the heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs often require treatment by specialists.

• NSAIDs (Drugs containing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) for joint symptoms and pleurisy.
• Low doses of corticosteroids, such as prednisone, for skin and arthritis symptoms.
• Corticosteroid creams for rashes.
• Hydroxychloroquine, a drug also used to treat malaria.
• Methotrexate can reduce the dose of corticosteroids
• Belimumab, a biological medicine, may be helpful in some people.

Treatments for more severe SLE may include:

• High-dose corticosteroids.
• Immunosuppressive drugs (these drugs suppress the immune system). These medicines are used if you have severe lupus that affects the nervous system, kidneys, or other organs. Also, if the condition does not improve or if the symptoms worsen, then stop taking them.
• The most commonly used drugs include mycophenolate, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide. Because of its toxicity, cyclophosphamide is limited to a short course of 3 to 6 months. Rituximab (Rituxan) is also used in some cases.
• Blood thinners, such as warfarin (Coumadin), for clotting disorders, such as antiphospholipid syndrome.

At Centrokinetic, our doctors can investigate, diagnose, and treat you to get the best results. They can also perform joint and periarticular injections with:

• Anti-inflammatory solutions or corticosteroids: are usually used for several types of musculoskeletal problems, such as tendinitis, tenosynovitis, bursitis, fasciitis, osteoarthritis, muscle injuries, ligament injuries. Corticosteroids are natural hormones made from cholesterol in the adrenal glands. In clinical practice, steroids are used for their powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Corticosteroids should not be confused with anabolic steroids, which are known to be used by athletes to increase muscle mass and strength. Corticosteroids used in resentment are injected all over the world, the administration doses are minimal, on average 0.4mg, and the side effects are similar in elderly patients, by temporarily increasing (2-3 days) blood pressure and blood sugar.
• Sterile viscoelastic solutions (hyaluronic acid): are performed mainly intraarticularly, both in the large joints (knee, shoulder, hip, ankle) and in the small ones (fist, elbow, metatarsophalangeal, or interphalangeal). The role of these infiltrations is multiple: protector of the articular cartilage through the viscous properties of the injection - the molecules of Hyaluronic Acid in the synovial fluid, act as a lubricant, protecting the articular surfaces from mechanical damage, by elastic properties - under the pressure generated by the joint load (bodyweight), hyaluronic acid in a synovial fluid acts as a shock absorber, protecting cartilage from compressive trauma, a nutrient for joint cartilage, synovial tissue protector: Hyaluronic acid is a protective barrier for the synovial membrane and masks the receptors for inflammation in the knee, reducing inflammation.
• Infiltrations with PRP (platelet hyperconcentrate): have been used since 1978 in the USA, in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders, with extraordinary results. The infiltration lasts on average 40 minutes, is painless, and consists of collecting peripheral blood (from the vein) of the patient, on average between 60 and 180 ml, centrifugation 20-25 minutes to separate platelets from other blood cells, and injection into the same stage in the affected area. Centrokinetic offers patients treatments with the best PRP kits in the world, brought from the USA, from Arthrex and Magellan. The rationale for using this type of infiltration is to initiate and accelerate the natural process of tissue healing and regeneration by releasing platelet-derived growth factors directly into the affected tissue. According to current studies, soft tissue lesions and cartilage lesions are receptive to this treatment. Some of these include the following: tendinitis (epicondylitis, plantar tendonitis, Achilles, patellar, etc.), tendinosis, tendon ruptures, tendon degenerative lesions, muscle ruptures, cartilage lesions (arthrosis). The therapy also has a postoperative indication in meniscus suture, ligamentoplasty, sutures/tendon reinsertions (rotator cuff, Bankard, Achilles tendon, patellar tendon, quadrigeminal, etc.).
• Autologous growth factor therapy:  is a therapy used in Germany for 15 years, and consists of harvesting the body's growth factors, multiplying them by incubation, and reinjecting them into the affected area. The duration of the treatment is 3 hours, performing 3-5 procedures, at 1-week intervals. The major indications are chronic tendinitis (epicondylitis, plantar tendonitis, Achilles, patellar), and articular cartilage lesions (arthrosis). It also has excellent results in the treatment of joint and periarticular pain. Autologous growth factor therapy is a treatment with a cytokine-rich autologous serum (ACRS), derived from the patient's blood. To ensure high tolerability, this technology completely avoids the use of any artificial additives. This special serum, rich in autologous cytokines, can activate the body's ability to heal itself by producing positive interleukins and growth factors. These are crucial to intervene in the cascade of pain, causing it to stop and the subsequent onset of the healing process.

Centrokinetic clinic has a very experienced team, specialized in sports traumatology, accredited in: Tecar therapy, dynamic taping, massage, Graston technique, Kinesio Tape, ERGON, flossing band. Our team has attended numerous overspecialized courses with trainers from the country and abroad, being certified to perform therapies at the highest level. 

About Centrokinetic

Centrokinetic clinic offers all services necessary for a complete rehabilitation process, from the first consultation to the medical specialist to establish the correct diagnosis, to treatment and recovery.

Centrokinetic is the place where you will find clear answers and solutions for your motricity problems. The clinic is dedicated to osteoarticular conditions and is divided into the following departments:

• Orthopedics, a department composed of an extremely experienced team of orthopedic doctors, led by Dr. Andrei Ioan Bogdan, primary care physician in orthopedics-traumatology, with surgical activity at Medlife Orthopedic Hospital, specialized in sports traumatology and ankle and foot surgery.
• Pediatric orthopedics, where children's sports conditions are treated (ligament and meniscus injuries), spinal deformities (scoliosis, kyphosis, hyperlordosis) and those of the feet (hallux valgus, hallux rigidus, equine larynx, flat valgus, hollow foot).
• Neurology, which has an ultra-performing department, where consultations, electroencephalograms (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) are performed. 
• Medical recovery  for adults and  children, department specialized in the recovery of performance athletes, in spinal disorders, in the recovery of children with neurological and traumatic diseases. Our experience is extremely rich, treating over 5000 performance athletes.
• Medical imaging, the clinic being equipped with ultrasound and MRI, high-performance devices dedicated to musculoskeletal disorders, and complemented by an experienced team of radiologists: Dr. Sorin Ghiea and Dr. Cosmin Pantu, specialized in musculoskeletal imaging.

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