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Multiple Delays in Referral of New RA Patients
A UK study of early onset arthritis or new rheumatoid arthritis patients shows multiple sources of delayed referral to the first rheumatology consultation.
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Biologic Agents have Equal Efficacy in Enthesitis and Dactylitis
A systematic review has shown that TNF inhibitors (TNFi) are equaled in efficacy by other biologic agents (ustekinumab, secukinumab, and ixekizumab) in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients with in dactylitis and enthesitis.
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Lower Mortality Results from Lower Activity in Lupus
Data from the longitudinal Tromsø Lupus Cohort study has shown that lupus patients who achieve a Lupus Low Disease Activity State (LLDAS‐50) were shown to have significantly less severe damage, and a reduction in mortality.
This was a population‐based study of SLE patients in the northern‐most counties of Norway.
Dual IL-17 Inhibitor in Psoriasis Succeeds
Patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis attained durable complete and near-complete responses for more than a year with a dual inhibitor of interleukin (IL)-17, data from a randomized trial showed.
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AAD/NPF Guidelines on Biologic Use in Psoriasis
Menter and colleagues from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) and National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) have published their expert consensus guidelines for the use of biologics in psoriasis.
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Dermatology Guidelines for Psoriatic Comorbidities
The JAAD has published joint guidelines from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) and National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) on the approach, management and dermatolgist roles for select comorbid conditions.
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RheumNow Podcast – Scleroderma and the Lung (3.1.19)
Dr. Jack Cush Reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com
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Early TNF inhibition in Early Psoriatic Arthritis
A small, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial in early psoriatic arthritis (PsA) has shown that first-line use of golimumab and methotrexate (MTX) is superior to MTX alone in inducing remission in PsA.
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Allopurinol Reduces Cardiovascular Outcomes in Diabetes
A Canadian study has shown that elderly diabetics who take allopurinol have a significant reduction in cardiovascular outcomes.
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Does Smoking Cessation Reduce RA Risk?
Individuals who quit smoking and maintained their nonsmoking status over a long duration of time had a decreased risk of developing seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an analysis of two large prospective cohorts found.
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RheumNow Podcast - Death and Surgery (2-22-19)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from the past week on RheumNow.com:
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Lupus Microbiome May Drive Disease Activity
Silverman and colleagues have published their study of the fecal microbiome of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and found roughly five times more gut bacteria known as Ruminococcus gnavus, and that these abnormalities in microbiota can correlate with measures of disease severity i
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Impressive Survival of Interleukin-1 Inhibitors in Systemic Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
The drug retention rate of interleukin-1 inhibitors (IL-1) used to treat systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) appears to be quite high according to a new study.
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Safety Warnings for Higher Dose Tofacitinib
Pfizer has issued a press release regarding the safety of tofacitinib, citing higher rates of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the use of higher dose tofacitinib 10mg bid in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated in a long-term safety trial.
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Remission Unlikely in RA
Dr. Marwan Bukhari (editor of Rheumatology) has written an editorial wherein he suggests that true remission is hard to achieve. He notes that "remission as a target is a noble objective that we should all aspire to but we should not chastise our practice if we do not achieve it, as more and more evidence suggests that we should consider it the ideal but not the norm."
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TKR - One or Two at a Time?
His would-be surgeon tried mightily to talk him out of a bilateral knee replacement. At 340 pounds, the patient's BMI -- above 43 -- was a significant contraindication.
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Hip Replacements Lasting 25 Years
Lancet reports that, based on a literature review and metanalysis, patients and surgeons can expect a hip replacement to last 25 years in around 58% of patients.
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Mortality and Hospitalization with Pulmonary Hypertension in Systemic Sclerosis
PHAROS is a prospective cohort studying the natural history of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in systemic sclerosis (SSc). They have shown that risk factors for poor outcomes in this cohort included male sex, DLCO < 50%, exercise oxygen desaturation, and pericardial effusions.
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No Added Benefit to MRI-Guided Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis
A treat-to-target (T2T) strategy to manage rheumatoid arthritis hinges on clinical metrics to optimize therapy. But investigators from Denmark have shown that using magnetic resonance imaging–guided T2T failed to improve disease activity remission rates or reduce radiographic progression.
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Differing Effects of Smoking and HLA-DRB1 in Seropositive Rheumatoids
Analyses from the Swedish EIRA incident rheumatoid arthritis cohort study shows that smoking and HLA-DRB1 exert differential effects on serologically defined RA subsets - but that the strongest influence was seen in double positive (CCP+, RF+) individuals.
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