After data manipulation allegations, the FDA has been calling for the vasculitis drug to be pulled from the market since January.

July is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month, and while many people think of arthritis as a disease of aging, nearly 300,000 children in the U.S. are living with a rheumatic disease.

Researchers examined genetic data drawn from 11 different worldwide cohorts, that included from more than 2.5 million adults, of which 55,000 had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. They identified DNA sequence variants in 26 regions of the genome that affect the risk of developing fibromyalgia. Many of the genes implicated in these regions are involved in brain and nerve function. This is the largest fibromyalgia GWAS to date.

In most mammals, uricase catalyzes the oxidation of uric acid to allantoin, a highly soluble compound easily excreted by the kidneys. But humans lack functional uricase, leaving xanthine oxidase inhibitors (allopurinol/febuxostat) as first-line urate-lowering therapy (ULT). Uricase-based biologics are reserved for uncontrolled/refractory gout patients with gouty flares, active synovitis, and/or non-resolving tophi despite optimized oral ULT.

Dactylitis, AKA the "sausage digit", is a hallmark of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but as Possemato and colleagues point out, it is fundamentally a clinical sign, and not a diagnosis. This review article discusses the wider implications of dactylitis in rheumatology and medicine underscores the diagnostic and prognostic significance of this manifestation.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news, journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com.

Gout, historically referred to as the “disease of kings,” was once associated with a lifestyle of excess, including ready access to alcohol and rich meats once reserved for society’s highest ranks.

It is important that the misconceptions and myths held by the patient are discussed and dispelled and, most importantly, establish a clear understanding of “the plan” and the reason for initiating urate-lowering therapy (ULT).

A recent perspective by Tedeschi tackles many unresolved issues around CPPD diagnosis, classification, and management, including the lack of clinical trials or FDA approved treatments.