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Non-Serious Infection Risk with Biologics in RA
Nonserious infections (NSI) comprise the bulk of all infections seen with biologic therapies; new data from British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register for Rheumatoid Arthritis shows that while NSI are more common than serious infections, the predictors of NSI are the same as serious infections.
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What Factors Predict RA in First-Degree Relatives?
Among a cohort of first-degree relatives of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), certain patient characteristics, as well as symptoms, helped predict a possible increased risk for developing the disease, U.K. researchers reported.
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Booster Shots for Rheumatology Patients on Immunosuppressive Medications
ATLANTA – The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices today recommended that rheumatology patients being actively treated with high-dose corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, TNF blockers, and other biologic agents that are immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory receive a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.
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Anakinra's Effects on COVID-19 Outcomes
Sporadic reports of anakinra use in COVID-19 infection has hinted is potential; now a metanalysis shows that the use of anakinra may reduce the mortality risk in patients admitted to hospital with moderate to severe COVID-19 pneumonia, especially highly elevated ferritin and C-reactive prote
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USA Ranks 11th (Last) in Healthcare Delivery
Despite spending more (18%) of its gross national product on health care than its peers, the U.S.
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COVID Vaccine Booster Effective for Transplant Recipients in Small Trial
For organ transplant recipients, a third dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine more than tripled the proportion with a sufficient antibody response, a randomized trial showed.
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Mepolizumab Dosing in Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis
A new European real world experience study shows that mepolizumab is effective at both 100 or 300mg every 4 weeks in patients with the rarely encountered eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA; or Churg-Strauss Syndrome).
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Biologics Reduce Surgical Needs in RA
In Canada, biologic DMARDs (bDMARDs) were introduced after 2001, and since that time there have been significant reductions in hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but not in patients with osteoarthritis (OA).
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Rare Risk of Serious Adverse Events After COVID Vaccination
The CDC had reported the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) study of rare serious adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination and assert that the excessive morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 (and the protection afforded by vaccination) far exceeds the risk of rare safety signals
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More Tea, Less Rheumatoid
A large cohort study of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients shows that regular tea consumption was associated with a lower risk of RA.
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Early MRI Sacroiliac Improvement with JAK Inhibition
The TORTUGA trial tested filgotinib, a JAK1 inhibitor, in active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients and was shown to be both effective and capable of retarding sacroiliac (SI) joint erosions as early as 12 weeks.
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Safety and Tolerability of Subcutaneous Methotrexate
A large, single-rheumatology center analysis of oral and subcutaneous (SC) methotrexate (MTX) use in daily clinical practice suggests that SC MTX has fewer drug discontinuations and is better tolerated compared to other DMARD therapies.
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RheumNow Podcast – Saphnelo (Anifrolumab) Approved for Lupus (8.6.2021)
It was a banner week at the FDA; a new drug approval you should know about; a lot of information about pregnancy and safety; and an interesting case plus a question from one of our readers submitted via Back Talk. This and more in this week's podcast. Let's dive in.
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Lumbar Spine Decompression Alone is Superior to Decompression with Fusion
The NEJM has published a multicenter study wherein patients with surgical lumbar spinal stenosis and degenerative spondylolisthesis were found to fair equally well (noninferior if treated with decompression surgery alone compared to decompression with instrumented fusion.
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Delays in Joint Replacement as JIA Patients Reach Adulthood
A retrospective cohort study examined the need for joint replacement surgery in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and showed there has been a trend to delay arthroplasty over time. The JIA category, year of implant, and presence of complications significantly affected implant survivorship.
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Skin Involvement with HMGCR Necrotizing Myositis
The Journal of Autoimmunity reports that anti-HMRCR antibody positive, necrotizing myositis patients frequently have cutaneous lesions, moreso than previously reported.
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Rheumatic Flares Uncommon After COVID Vax
Post-vaccination disease flares were uncommon among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases who were inoculated against COVID-19, researchers found.
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Multimorbidity Impairs Responses in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A retrospective analysis of the ACR RISE registry shows that multimorbidity is not only common in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but also impacts treatment choices and outcomes.
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CRESS – A New Composite Measure for Primary Sjögren's Syndrome
Randomized clinical trials in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) are fraught with fault and inconclusive outcome measures, including the more recently developed EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI). There's a new composite endpoint outcome for RCTs in pSS, called the Composite of Relevant Endpoints for Sjögren's Syndrome (CRESS).
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Rheumatoid Arthritis Offspring Show Normal School Performance
A prospective, longitudinal study of the cognitive development of children born to mothers with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) demonstrates normal development as measured by comparative school test scores.
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