Overlap of autoimmune disorders represents a significant diagnostic and management challenge to the rheumatologist. A novel cohort analysis of overlap between systemic sclerosis (SSc) and systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) suggests such patients tend to be younger, more frequently have PAH, but less cutaneous manifestations of SSc.

The Norwegian connective tissue disease (CTD) and systemic vasculitis (PSV) registry (NOSVAR) studied patient outcomes over a 15 year period and found overall mortality to be higher in the CTD compared to the PSV group.

Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news from the past week on RheumNow.com, including news on inappropriate opioids, pre-clinical RA treatment, DMARDs in Gout, the decline of arthroscopy, and a pain in the mouth.

The past two decades have seen a significant decline in mortality among patients with lupus nephritis, U.S. registry data indicated.

Ronald F van Vollenhoven and colleagues have reported in Lancet that ustekinumab (UST), an interleukin-12 and -23 inhibitor, when added to usual therapy in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, was shown to be superior to placebo at improving clinical efficacy and laboratory param

The ACR/ARHP 2018 national meeting in Chicago presented us with opportunities to learn more about inflammatory myositis. A particularly interesting lecture was HOT topics in myositis. There were a few abstracts on MDA-5 related disease and a few on new or repurposed medications for dermatomyositis which will be covered here.

A population based analysis from Israel suggests that giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients may be at increased risk for  inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) mainly target.

The Annals of Surgery reports on an anlaysis of FDA-mandated postmarket studies, including nearly 100,000 breast implant pprocedures, that showed silicone implants to be associated with higher rates of  Sjögren's syndrome, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, stillbirth, and melanoma.

Using an observational cohort analysis of patients in the French myositis network, researchers have proposed a new classification of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) with four subgroups: dermatomyositis, inclusion body myositis, immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy, and antisynthetas

Twenty-year data from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) suggests that depression is associated with a 2-fold increased frequency of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) - the question is why?

Yet another setback has occurred in the efforts to develop new medications for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), as anifrolumab failed to meet the primary endpoint in a phase III trial, according to AstraZeneca and MedImmune. 

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) today released the Rheumatic Disease Report Card: Raising the Grade on Rheumatology Care in America, a first-of-its-kind report that evaluates just how difficult it can be to live well with a rheumatic disease in the United States.

A Canadian Rheumatology Association SLE Working Group was established to develop recommendations for the assessment of people with systemic lupus erythematosus.

A panel that included 23 adult rheumatologists, 4 pediatric rheumatologists, 1 immunologist, 4 general internal medicine and rheumatology trainees, and a patient representative, used GRADE methodology to assess the literature and develop guidelines.

The British Society of Rheumatology has produced a set of NICE accredited guidelines for the use of biologic therapies in patients with inflammatory arthritis.

Pregnancy and drug safety is a complex issue, often with limited informatoin about maternal drug exposure on the offspring. Greater uncertainty exists when considering whether paternal exposure may also influence fetal outcomes.

The current issue of the CDC's MMWR reviews the new seasonal recommendations for vaccination against influenza. This is an update to the previous recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). 

A study of inpatient systemic sclerosis (SSc) hospitalizations using the 2012–13 National Inpatient Sample database finds an inpatient mortality rate of 5%, and that infection was the most common cause of SSc hospitalizations and in-hospital death.

It has been postulated that TH1 and TH17 pathways are implicated in the pathogenesis of giant cell arteritis (GCA); this is supported by new research showing that interleukin 12 (IL-12) and interleukin 23 (IL-23) may stimulate inflammatory and proliferative pathways relevant to the path

Yesterday, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) met with U.S.

A Danish population study suggests that fetal exposure to maternal rheumatoid arthritis results in an increased offspring risk of thyroid disease, epilepsy and RA, compared to children born to mothers without RA.