Seropositivity Increases Risk of Rheumatoid Mortality

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Three European registries analyzed their cohorts for outcomes that may be related to seropositivity for anticitrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), rheumatoid factor (RF) and anticarbamylated protein (anti-CarP) antibodies.

Prescribing Rules

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If you are responsible for the outcome and welfare of patients – you need prescribing rules.

If you are supervising others or responsible for the training of those learning rheumatology – you need prescribing rules.

Combination or Monotherapy Tocilizumab in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Several rheumatoid arthritis studies have shown that tocilizumab (TCZ) may be as effective as monotherapy when compared to combination therapy (methotrexate plu

Cochrane Reviews Low Back Pain and Exercise

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A new Cochrane Review published today shows that targeting exercises to muscles that support and control the spine offers another strategy to reduce pain and disability caused by lower back pain.

Game-Changers 2015: Refining Treatment in Arthritis

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Widening experience with JAK inhibition for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and tapering medications among RA patients in remission, along with the success of secukinumab for psoriatic arthritis (PsA), were the most important advances in rheumatology in 2015, according to specialists responding toMedPa

The Global Prevalence of Spondyloarthritis

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SpA is a common disease, but with large variation in reported prevalence estimates, partly explained by differences in demographical and methodological characteristics. 

Increasing Hospitalization Rates for Shingles in Lupus

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An administrative claims study of lupus patients drawn from the United States National Inpatient Sample between 2000 to 2011, studied hospitalization rates related to bacteremia, pneumonia, opportunistic fungal infection, herpes zoster, cytomegalovirus, or pneumocystis pneumonia (P

New Scoring System Predicts 1 year survival in Hip Fracture Patients

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A prospective study was conducted in Germany to establish predictors of 1 year survival after a hip fracture in elderly people.

Secukinumab Shows Efficacy in Two Ankylosing Spondylitis Trials

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NEJM has published the results of two studies wherein IL-17 inhibition with secukinumab (SEC) was shown to be effective in patients with anklylosing spondylitis.

Increased Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes in Ankylosing Spondylitis

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Although ankylosing spondylitis affects a predominantly male population, the ratio of men to women has declined from 9-10:1 in earlier studies to more recent estimates of 2-3:1 (F:M).

Famous Rheumatologist Quotes – Part II

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Last month, many rheumatologists offered up their favorite quotes. Most of these were on medicine, medical skills, some pertained to rheumatology and others were axioms for life.

CDC Reports Increasing Narcotic Deaths

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A recent Morbidity Mortality Weekly Report from the CDC reviewed the epidemic of drug overdose (poisoning) deaths in the USA.

Tofacitinib Shows Promise in Alopecia, Eczema and Vitiligo

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Tofacitinib has been approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis.

DSB: Managing Methotrexate Toxicity (Best of 2015: #1)

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Methotrexate was first introduced in 1955 for leukemia and in 1986 became FDA approved for the treatment of adults with severe, active, rheumatoid arthritis or children with active polyarticular-course juvenile RA.

2015 ACR RA Guidelines Released– Finally! (Best of 2015: #2)

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ACR 2015 RA treatment guidelines were published yesterday, nearly a year after they were preliminarily presented at the 2014 ACR meeting in Boston. After a year of review and revision these have been posted.

The Dying Hospital Consult (Best of 2015)

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Hospital consults – “nobody goes there anymore”, and not because it’s too crowded (a quote from the late great Yogi Berra), but rather because it’s a poor investment of time and resources.

The History of Citrullination (Best of 2015)

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1998 marked the introduction of citrulline as a unique target in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. The hallmark article by Schellekens et al in the Journal of Clinical Investigation has since been cited over 500 times.  Dr.

A Rheumatology State of Mind (Best of 2015)

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A 2013 study reported that people from Denmark were the happiest. Reasons were postulated, but it was suggested it was because their expectations were so low.

How I Choose Biologics (Best of 2015)

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Clinical decision-making, occurring at the intersection of the ’art’ and the ’science’ of medicine, remains enigmatic and controversial.

ICD-10: Preparing for the Next Y2K (Best of 2015)

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ICD-10 starts tomorrow, October 1st. Your Coding memory will have to increase 5-fold or more as we go from 16,000 to 68,000 new ICD-10 codes. How this will affect each of us remains to be seen. There’s a lot to learn, and many wonder if this will be the next “Y2K”.