Diagnosis of large vessel vasculitis can be challenging, and imaging modalities help with not only the diagnosis but sometimes in assessing flares in the disease. At EULAR 2023, recommendations for imaging modalities for large vessel vasculitis were discussed. These were evidence-based recommendations adapted for practicality in clinical use.  

Dr. Jack Cush reviews highlight abstracts and sessions - covering lupus, RA, gout, Still's disease, safety data, AI in medicine and more - from last week's EULAR 2023 Congress held in Milan, Italy.

At EULAR 2023, there was a late breaking abstract that compared difficult to treat patients with RA who had received treatment (including TNFi and JAKi in some patients) previously and still had active disease.

In my focus group consisting of people living with SLE and their carers, one of the keys issues raised by them was pertaining to poor reliable information about their condition. At the 2023 EULAR Congress in Milan, I learned about the wide scale dissemination and international launch of Lupus100.org project.

Several studies were reported at EULAR2023 about Takayasu’s arteritis (vasculitis), a very rare large vessel vasculitis that occurs in young individuals.

One of the primary questions about JAK inhibitor safety, ever since its first approval, has been the risk of herpes zoster.

Following the success of Phase 3 randomised controlled trials of non-renal and renal vasculitis, therapy with rituximab has tremendously improved the outcomes of AAV patients. However, some patients are unable to taper their glucocorticoids during rituximab therapy while others appear to be refractory to therapy, particularly those with EGPA. Hence, what are other current or future approaches beyond rituximab?

Methotrexate (MTX) has been used as the anchor drug for the treatment of RA and PsA for many years. Despite our long experience with the use of MTX, one area that has remained uncertain is its effect on male fertility. There is now increasing evidence that cessation of MTX in males prior to trying conceive is not necessary.

Day 4 was a half day closeout to the EULAR 2023 Congress.

Some subjects in rheumatology seem to create contention the more they get explored, and one of those areas is a traditional crowd favourite for discussion at EULAR - clinically suspect arthralgias.