Pisetsky on Digital Infarcts and Rheumatoid Vasculitis

Save

"As scholars of disease have noted, RA today appears to be a less severe disease than it was when I started my career in the 1970s. Then, patients routinely ‘went up in smoke’ and rapidly became crippled, wasting away in a state we called ‘burnt out’.

Prevalence of gout

Save

Lancet article on the increasing prevalence of gout shows a rate of 2.5% in the UK that has increased 67% in the last 15 years.

Tanezumab in Osteoarthritis: Data Presented at OARSI

Save

Pooled analyses of the tanezumab (a nerve growth factor inhibitor) phase 3 studies was presented at the 2015 Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) World Congress.

Early DMARD Therapy Averts Cardiovascular Risk in RA

Save

A Finnish early RA register studied 14,878 incident RA patients from 2000-2008 and identified 1157 deaths.  Patients receiving DMARDs and MTX had lower mortality rates. The standardized moratility ratio for the entire cohort was reduced (0.57, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.62).

The National Prevalence of HLA-B27 in the U.S.

Save

HLA-B27 is found 6.1% of the US population, but with is seen in >90% patients with ankylosing spondylitis. HLA-B27 increases risk of spondylitis, uveitis and heart block. [Image credit: "HLA-B*2705" by Pdeitiker - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons]

Communication Gap Between MDs and Lupus Patients

Save

May 10 was World Lupus Day.

Economic Impact of Biosimilars

Save

According to the Federal Trade Commission biosimilars have the potential to save the U.S. healthcare system $250 billion through 2022.

Hepatotoxicity and TNF Inhibitors

Save

Hepatic enzyme elevations with TNF inhibitor use is not uncommon.

Lancet: Increase Serious Infection Risk with Biologics

Save

Blau Syndrome - the Prototypic Autoinflammatory Granulomatous Disorder

Save

The defining triad of Blau's syndrome includes granulomatous polyarthritis, dermatitis and uveitis.  This rare, monogenic, autosomal dominant disorder stems from a "gain in function" mutation of the pattern recognition receptor NOD2.

Rheum by the Numbers: Inflammatory Back Pain

Save

Nearly 20% Americans have chronic back pain, but 5-6% have inflammatory back pain. These numbers were derived from the 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that showed the USA prevalence of axial spondyloarthritis to be 1-1.4% and ankylosing spondylitis to be 0.5%.

RA Compliance Undermines Treatment Success

Save

Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston prospectively studied 107 RA patients with regard to oral medication (DMARDs, steroids) adherence. They report that adherence was low, ranging from 58-71% overall.

Zoster Risk is Similar Among Different MOA Biologics

Save

The risk of new H zoster infection was studied among nearly 30,000 new biologic starts and compared rates seen with abatacept, adalimumab, rituximab, infliximab, etanercept, tocilizumab, certolizumab or golimumab initiation.

Patient perspectives in the management of psoriasis and PsA

Save

A psoriasis population survey finds psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis in 1.4%-3.3% of North American and European households.  Many (27-53%) rated their disease as “severe”.

AS vs. SpA Responses with Combination Treatment

Save

Patients in a large Swedish registry with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) who started a TNF inhibitor were followed for comedication use and TNF inhibitor survival.

Comorbidities Abound in Fibromyalgia

Save

Fibromyalgia is a highly prevalent disorder with different studies and populations showing a prevalence of 2.1% to 6.4% in the general population.  A retrospective review from Olmstead county revealed that among 1

The Prevalence of Ankylosing Spondylitis

Save

A retrospective study of the national register in Sweden identified a total of 11,030 cases with an ankylosing spondylitis (AS) diagnosis (as of 2009) were identified in the National Patient Register, giving a point prevalence of 0.18% in 2009. Men had a higher prevalence of ankylo

Communication is the Best Medicine

Save

Patients rate communication as one of the most important factors in choosing and sticking with a physician. The end product in at least 2/3 of visits is the prescription, yet prescription adherence is substandard in half of our patients. The key is communication.

The Risk of Listeriosis in RA

Save

In the mid-1990s, our Rheumatology Division at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School became involved with an early trial of a brand new TNF inhibitor.