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RheumNow Week in Review – 24 June 2016
Dr. Cush reviews highlights published this week at RheumNow.com.
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Infection Risk Increased in Giant Cell Arteritis
French researchers recruited 486 patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) from over 40 centers throughout France, and compared their outcomes to age and sex matched individuals randomly selected from the general population. Both groups were followed for 5 years and assessed for the risk of serious infections.
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Hypogonadism Ups the Risk of Autoimmunity
In a variety of models, testosterone has been shown to be immunosuppressive and deficiency of testosterone has been linked with autoimmune disease and increases in C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor, and interleukin-6 (IL-6).
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Predictors of Progression in Early Inflammatory Polyarthritis
A substantial, but unclear, percentage of patients presenting with new onset inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) will spontaneously remit, while others may persist and develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
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New EULAR Guidelines on Behçet's
At the EULAR 2016 meeting, new EULAR recommendations for the management of Behçet's disease (BD) were presented.
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A $20 Drug Company Meal Yields 2-5 Times More Prescriptions
Accepting a single pharmaceutical industry-sponsored meal was associated with higher rates of prescribing certain drugs to Medicare patients by physicians, with more, and costlier, meals associated with greater increases in prescribing, according to an article published online by JAMA Internal Me
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EULAR 2016 Drug Safety Report
The EULAR Annual European Congress of Rheumatology meeting was held in London from June 8-11, 2016 and was well attended by thousands. This year’s meeting had over 2,000 poster displays, and the EULAR 2016 Congress presented new recommendations on the management of rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and fibromyalgia.
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Steroid Use in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Associated with Fractures
The impact of systemic glucocorticoid exposure on fracture risk among new-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was studied using administrative claims data detailing the treatments and outcomes of 42,127 newly diagnosed RA patients (between 2005-2012).
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Pregnancy Complications in Primary Sjogren's
Sjogren's syndrome is a highly prevalent disorder, affecting women ten times more frequently than men. Although the typical onset follows menopause, a minority of women may develop primary Sjogren’s syndrome (pSS) during child-bearing years.
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RheumNow Week in Review – 17 June 2016
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, reports and highlights from EULAR and the last 2 weeks from RheumNow.com.
Read ArticleAMA Promotes Training in Telemedicine
Recognizing that formalized training in telemedicine is not widely offered to physicians-in-training, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy during its Annual Meeting aimed at ensuring medical students and residents learn how to use telemedicine in clinical practice.
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European Registries Show No Melanoma Risk with Biologics
The combined analysis of 130,315 rheumatoid arthritis patients from 11 European registries did not reveal an association between invasive (malignant) melanoma and the use of biologic therapies.
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Arthritis and Suicide Linked with Childhood Adversities
Men and women with arthritis have nearly a two-fold higher prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts than those without arthritis, according to a recent study from the University of Toronto.
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Dramatic Results for Interferon Blocker in SLE
Blocking the type 1 interferon receptor with the monoclonal antibody anifrolumab shows promise as a treatment for moderate-to-severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), according to a phase IIb study presented here.
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Long-Acting Opioids Associated with Higher Mortality Risk
Prescription of long-acting opioids for chronic noncancer pain was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality, including deaths from causes other than overdose, compared with anticonvulsants or cyclic antidepressants, according to a study appearing in the June 14 issue of JAMA.
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No Increased Risk of Colitis Flares in Secukinumab Trials
No increased incidence of inflammatory bowel disease has been seen among patients with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or ankylosing spondylitis treated with secukinumab (Cosentyx) in the clinical trial programs for this interleukin (IL)-17A inhibitor, a researcher reported here.
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Parathyroidectomy Improves and Bisphosphonates Worsen Fracture Risk in Primary Hyperparathyroidism
A retrospective observational study of over 6000 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), followed in the Kaiser-Permanente system, has shown a greater need for parathyroidectomy than was previously thought.
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U-ACT-Early and the Benefits of Tocilizumab
Lancet has published the results of the U-ACT-early study assessing the efficacy of monotherapy versus combination therapy using an interleukin-6 receptor-blocking monoclonal antibody, tocilizumab, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
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Ixekizumab Success with the UNCOVER Trials in Psoriasis
The NEJM today published the results of two phase-3 trials (UNCOVER-2 and UNCOVER-3) demonstrating the efficacy of ixekizumab (a monoclonal antibody against interleukin-17A) in the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis.
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Pre-Clinical Use of Rituximab Forestalls Rheumatoid Onset
The results of the PRAIRI study were presented today at EULAR 2016 in London. These early findings suggest that individuals "at-risk" to develop rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may benefit from a short course of intravenously rituximab therapy.
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