Several weeks ago, at the Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposia, an interesting debate between Drs. Orrin Troum and Marty Bergman hashed over the concept of whether rheumatologists should sub-specialize with a practice, research or career devoted to one disease ("Super Rheum"), or be "selective" about what disorders and diseases they would treat or just be a generalist. 

Palmoplantar psoriasis (PPP) is a therapeutically challenging variant of psoriasis; nonetheless, a prospective, randomized, active-controlled trial from India suggests that apremilast is effective and safe in patients with PPP.

A multicentre, retrospective study examined MSA profiles (by immunoprecipitation) from 96 juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (JIIM) at nine pediatric rheumatology centres in Japan. MSA were found in 85 of 96 cases with over 90% of patients having one of the following three MSA

Schett and colleagues studies the secukinumab (an IL-17 inhibitor) response in patients from 3 clinical trials with enthesitis and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and demonstrated consistent efficacy with improved enthesitis scores at both peripheral and axial sites.

Patients with rheumatic diseases who developed COVID-19 were at increased likelihood of death, with risk factors similar to those seen in the general population but also because of factors specific to their underlying disease and its treatment, analysis of data from an international registry foun

JAMA reports a safety survey of hospital employees showing that the risk of anaphylaxis from mRNA vaccines is 2.47 per 10,000 individuals. 

There is a growing body of evidence regarding COVID-19 outcomes (including death) in rheumatic disease patients; analysis of a German registry shows that poor control, rituximab, sulfasalazine and other immunosuppressives could be risk factors for COVID-related death.

On Feb. 27, the Food and Drug Administration announced it has issued an emergency use authorization for Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose Covid vaccine, making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to be commercially available.  We've compiled a comparison table and some key information relevant to your delivering patient guidance henceforth. 

Among 330 million Americans, roughly 32.1 million have been fully vaccinated and 61.1 million have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine (as of March 8th).

Incident or worsening colitis is a rare complication of IL-17 inhibitor therapy; a real world study confirms very low rates of new IBD in patients starting secukinumab.

Genentech announced Thursday that the US Food and Drug Administration approved tocilizumab (Actemra) for the treatment of Systemic Sclerosis-associated Interstitial Lung Disease (SSc-ILD), specifically indicated for slowing the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adul

The NEJM has published the results of the ACCT-2 Study,  a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial evaluating baricitinib, an inhibitor of Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) and JAK2, plus remdesivir in hospitalized adults with Covid-19. The primary outcome was the time to recovery.

Analysis of the NHANES population survey data shows weight gain during adulthood increases the risk of gout and that maintaining normal weight could reduce the overall gout risk by nearly 33%.

A systematic review of telehealth in delivering equivalent care in RA patients demonstrates there is limited evidence that virtual RA care is equivalent to conventional face-to-face care. Despite current widespread use, there is a great need for credible well-designed research that will address comparable patient outcomes, implementation strategies and long‐term health system consequences. 

The addition of an immunomodulating agent to pegloticase (Krystexxa) among patients with uncontrolled gout significantly improved response rates, a systematic literature review found.

The pendulum and jury are wavering with regard to the benefits of interleukin-6 receptor antagonists in COVID-19; the current NEJM reports the results of a study favoring such biologic therapy in in critically ill COVID-19 patients.

The results of the novel MAXIMISE trial have been published, demonstrating that secukinumab significantly improved axial signs and symptoms in psoriatic arthritis patients with axial manifestations with inadequate NSAID response.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews and discusses the news and Journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.