Metanalysis of patients with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), show this to be a rare and life-threatening complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), that is more apt to affect older, severe lupus patients with active infection.

The American College of Rheumatology has published a draft guidance on the use of COVID-19 vaccination in rheumatic disease and musculoskeletal disease patients, based on the efforts of the North American Task force. The document provides guidance to rheumatology providers on the use of the COVID-19 vaccine and the associated management of RMD patients around the time of vaccination. Here is a summary of the recommendations.

While comorbidities are associated with severe COVID-19 infection, it appears they also influence severity and survival in rheumatic disease (RMD), according to a a French cohort study,

Dr. Jack Cush reviews this past week's journal articles and news features on RheumNow.com. Colchicine, vaccine rollout, risk of RA in endometriosis patients, tREACH trial, lupus nephritis news, rheumatology burnout and more.

A systematic review by Urowitz and colleagues examined placebo responses in randomized controlled trials of non-renal, non-neuropsychiatric SLE patients showing unexpectedly high placebo responses; with more than one-third of the placebo-treated SLE patients responding by validated outcome measures.