Rheumatic Manifestations of Chikungunya Virus

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Chikungunya is a new viral cause of fever and arthritis, especially in endemic areas like the caribbean. The chikungunya epidemic has grown significantly in the Western hemisphere with a total of 1,247,000 cases and 183 fatalities since

Is Ultrasound Changing Rheumatology Practice?

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The recent inclusion of ultrasound in the classification criteria of various rheumatic diseases, such as polymyalgia rheumatica and gout, implies this imaging technique is not onlyuseful as a valued diagnostic tool for individual cases, but also on a larger scale, it will improve doctors' ability to

Allopurinol Reduces Mortality in Gout

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CVD risk is significantly augmented in gout. Choi and coworkers studied this issue using a UK general population database using an incident user cohort study with propensity score matching.

Does Cirrhosis Increase the Risk of Autoimmune Disorders?

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A Danish nationwide healthcare registry was used to identify newly diagnosed alcoholic cirrhosis patients between 1977 and 2010. A matched cohort analysis compared each patient with five random individuals from the population.

High Flare Rates with Drug Withdrawal in JIA

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While many adult rheumatologists are able to lessen or withdraw DMARD and biologic therapy in adults, little is known about the success of this practice in pediatric rheumatology clinics.

Knee Implant Forecast from 2012 - 2018

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The global knee implants market was USD 8.4 billion in 2011, and it's forecasted to reach USD 15 billion in 2018, with compound annual growth rate of 8.64% during 2011 to 2018. The U.S.

Difficulties Diagnosing Interstitial Lung Disease in Scleroderma

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The diagnosis of chronic lung disease in patients with systemic sclerosis may be difficult because of atypical symptoms, variable evolution and limitations of current classification criteria for a definite diagnosis. Nevertheless, diagnosis is necessary as patients with SSc-ILD have a p

Tofacitinib Equal to Etanercept in Psoriasis, but only at 10 mg bid Dose

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A 12-week, phase III, non-inferiority, randomized clinical trial of tofacitinib, etanercept or placebo was conducted in 1106 patients with plaque psoriasis.

Comorbidities Increasing in Arthritis Patients

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A CDC report shows comorbid conditions exist in 73.1% of all arthritis patients. Based on NHIS survey data, the number of patients with 2 or more comorbid conditions has increased from 21.8% in 2001 to 25.5% in 2012.  Most affected were older adults (≥65 years), women, wh

Eczema associated with osteoporosis and fractures

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NHANES data shows eczema is associated with a higher rate of fractures and osteoporosis. Of the nearly 5,000 people included in the study, seven percent reported a diagnosis of eczema.

Safety of Azathioprine in SLE Pregnancy Studied

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Will legislation change copays?

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Dr. Angus Worthing writes of patient angst over rising copays. Expensive specialty medications are the frequent target of "sharing" the rising costs of medications and making them the patients responsibility and not the insurers.

DECT Evidence of Urate Deposition is Associated with X-ray Damage in Gout

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Dalbeth and coworkers studied  92 patients with gout and using DECT scanning have shown those with urate deposition on DECT were 8.5-fold more likely to have erosive disease on plain radiographs.

Nonadherence to Self-Injected Biologics is High

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Researchers from the University of Manchester investigated self-reported adherence to biologic treatment in RA and found that 41% of patients were non-adherent to adalimumab therapy at least once, and 23% were nonadherent overall. http://bit.ly/1KA2

Osteoporosis Induced by Bariatric Surgery

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Although the cause is not clear, women who have weight loss surgery have a higher risk of thinning bones (osteoporosis) and fractures over time, according to a new analysis of a Swedish study.

Medicare D and Costly Biologics

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25% of Medicare beneficiaries with rheumatoid arthritis use high-cost biologics.  Yazdany and coworkers have analyzed a national cohort of beneficiaries and compared Medicare part D plans.

Prevalence of doctor-diagnosed arthritis and activity limitations

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52.5 million US adults (22.7%) have arthritis with half of these claiming activity limitation because of arthritis and pain.  Many arthritis patients have comorbid conditions including heart disease (49%), diabetes (47%) and obesity (31%).

Amgen Halts Development of Brodalumab

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IL-17 inhibitors are being developed for treatment of psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis. Broadalumab has been in phase II & III trials and been developed by a partnership between Amgen and Astra-Zeneca.

Sildenafil May Help Heal Scleroderma Ulcers

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A prospective study of sildenafil was conducted in 25 centers that included 83 patients and 192 digital ulcers at entry. The odds of healing ulcers was less, but not significant, for sildenafil.

RA Sarilumab Trials Meet Primary Endpoints

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Three phase III studies of sarilumab (SARIL-RA-TARGET, -EASY and -ASCERTAIN), a fully-human IL6 receptor antibody, have been reported and met primary end points in these pivotal clinical trials.